Blackmail toy
by AiraChica
Summary: Helga had always made it her personal mission to keep her love for Arnold a secret. She'd never ever thought that someone would overhear her monologging about him! And this guy was ready to demand absolutely awkward, terrifying and embarrassing things from Helga in exchange for not telling her secret to anyone.
1. Another cousin

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**Summary: Helga had always made it her personal mission to keep her love for Arnold a secret. She'd never ever thought that someone would overhear her monologging about him! And this guy was ready to demand absolutely awkward, terrifying and embarrassing things from Helga for not telling her secret to anyone.**

**Author's 1st note: My very first Hey Arnold! Fan fiction. Man, have I been looking forward to start writing this ever since I got the idea. How did I get it? I have absolutely no idea! But I've always had a thing for stories about blackmail. Helga's gonna be tormented quite a lot through this story. Look at the PG-rating, I think you can imagine some rather heavy stuff is gonna happen.**

**Before you freak, NO, this guy is NOT gonna rape Helga or anything like that. He barely touches her through this. It's not that kind of story. BUT there is heavily sexual material through this nevertheless. I'm not gonna bust the story, but I just thought it would also be fair to make sure my audience didn't think our heroine would be tortured to such a degree.**

**So without further ado I now present you: "Blackmail toy!"**

* * *

Chapter 1: "Another cousin"

"Hey, Arnold!"

Arnold bolted right up from the table his wide head had rested upon. He looked rapidly from side to another to find the source of the voice. When he recognized the tall, black afro hair in front of him, he sighed a bit. "Did you have to yell, Gerald?" he asked before starting to rest his chin in his palm.

"Uh, yeah, I had to yell. Wanna know why?"

"Not real - "

"Because you didn't hear me the first three times!" Gerald cut in and sat next to his best friend at the cafeteria table. "What's going on with you, man?"

Arnold briefly remembered his conversation with his parents that morning. His father Miles had told him that they would be having his nephew over aka Arnold's cousin. It would be his first time meeting this cousin after 16 years of not even knowing he had yet _another_ cousin! Everyone in his class had already met his cousin on his mother's side, so they knew why he probably wasn't very fond of the idea of a new one. Arnie was as bland as they came. His hobbies were to collect lint, read labels and count things. He also had this weird thing where he blinked with one eye and then the other. He was downright creepy and Arnold couldn't help but fear that this new cousin would be the same.

It was natural that Miles of course wanted his son to meet his cousin. After finally finding his parents in San Lorenzo, he didn't only have to catch up with them. He also had to catch up on other family members, who wanted to see Miles again! And that included this new cousin.

"Arnold!"

"Gerald!" Arnold shrieked, when he was forced out of his thoughts in such a horrible way. "Fine! I'll tell you. My… cousin is coming to visit." He was wincing at the mere thought and he noticed that so did Gerald. "Oh, no! That creep Arnie is coming back? For how long?"

"A… whole… month." Arnold answered and was just about to correct which cousin he was having come over, but when he saw the horrid expression on Gerald's face, he stopped and stared at him. He would have laughed, if it wasn't because that frightened expression matched his own on the inside.

"A month…? Oh god! I can't handle Arnie for a whole month! You poor thing!" Gerald said while starting to pat Arnold's back. "Thanks, but… it's not Arnie." He answered with a sullen look on his face. He at least knew how to handle Arnie. He knew what to expect of him. Miles didn't even know this other cousin himself, so he couldn't tell him anything! All he got was a picture of him, so he would know what he looked like, but that was pretty much it.

"Wait, what?" Gerald asked in disbelief. "Not Arnie? Who else is there?"

"Apparently I have an uncle on my dad's side and he's got a son. Not that my grandparents ever bothered to tell me that my father _wasn't_ an only child." Arnold answered while also remembering a brief conversation with his grandparents about this matter. Phil had feigned ignorance and claimed that _of course_ he had told him about Miles' brother! How could he forget his own son? But Arnold swore they'd never told him. Also, why hadn't he met him yet? Who knew, and he wasn't sure if he really cared. He was meeting this guy now and he was _not_ looking forward to it.

"You're kidding!" Gerald exclaimed and started shaking his head. "Man, Arnold, is it just me or is there always some sort of complicated secret in your life?"

Arnold started smirking, knowing Gerald was right. Crazy things always happened around him, no matter how old he got. 16 years old and there was still so much stuff he didn't know about himself and his relatives.

His smirk soon turned into a lovesick grin when he remembered another secret he had kept ever since he was 10 years old. Something no one knew. He couldn't help but turning his head very slowly to look at another cafeteria table. Or not really the table, but the girls sitting around it.

At the table sat Phoebe Heyerdahl, a small Asian girl who Gerald had been dating for a couple of years by now. But it wasn't her Arnold was gazing at. It was the girl sitting next to Phoebe. She was wearing her golden hair in her signature pigtails, but they were now lower than when she was a child. She still usually wore pink clothes, but didn't really wear dresses any longer. Today she was wearing pale light blue jeans and a pink top with a read belt just below her chest. She still wore that pink bow he'd always secretly adored, but she'd become quite creative with it. Either tying it around her wrist making it into a bracelet or around her neck as a choker. Today as the latter.

Helga Pataki. His childhood bully, but also from time to time friend. When it really counted, she'd actually been there for him. Like five years ago, when he went on his personal mission impossible, trying to find his parents in San Lorenzo. They had shared some moments during that trip, but to his dismay it had never developed into something afterwards. Though they did become friends. Which, in it's way, was a huge step in a positive direction.

A sharp pain in the back of Arnold's head got him out of his Helga related thoughts. "Ow! Gerald!" he exclaimed, while rubbing the sore area. He turned around to face his best friend, who had an annoyed look on his face. "Hey. What'cha doing looking over at Phoebe and Helga?"

Arnold just blinked at him. "Was I… looking at them?" he asked innocently. "Don't give me that!" Gerald answered. "You'd better not be thinking about trying to hit on Phoebe, or else I swear I'll - "

"Gerald! Gerald!" Arnold quickly stopped his friend before he could finish his threat. "Don't worry. I'm not going after Phoebe, and even if I were, she would turn me down immediately. Know why? Because she's in love with _you_. Get it into your skull already!"

Gerald remained with the annoyed look on his face for a while, before it finally softened. "Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm just… on my guard, ok?" he tried to explain. Arnold gently patted his back, telling him it was ok. He knew the feeling.

Another reason for Arnold not to be too fond of his other cousin Arnie, was that when he visited back in 7th grade, Arnold had found out that Arnie had a crush on Helga. A major one at that. It seemed like Arnie always went for the girls Arnold liked. Did that guy have a radar or something?

"So back to the topic at hand." Gerald said. "Topic at hand?" Arnold repeated a bit confused. "Yeah, your cousin! Tell me what you know about him." Gerald asked of him. Arnold sighed and shook his head. "All I can tell you is that he's 16 like us, he lives in New York and his name is Aaron."

"… Aaron?"

"Aaron."

"So… Aaron, Arnie and Arnold?"

"Yeah, yeah, we sound like the start of a bad triplets joke, I know." Arnold quickly said, before Gerald could have any cheap shots at him. The universe really did like to mess with Arnold after all. "Man… so besides him being living in The Big Apple and being 16, you know _shit_ about him?" Gerald asked.

"Yup, my dad doesn't know anymore than me."

"Tough. So… when's he coming over?"

"Today. When school's over."

"Mmm, mmm, mmm! You poor thing!" Gerald said while patting Arnold's back yet again.

* * *

"Hey, Pheebs?" Helga asked quietly, while sneaking a glance over her shoulder. "Yes, Helga?" the girl answered looking at her best friend.

"Is it just me or… does Arnold look kinda down?"

Phoebe quickly perked her head up to look at the table of her boyfriend and her best friend's crush. Arnold's back was currently being patted by Gerald and he did have a rather sullen look on his face.

"Based on first impressions then… yeah. Yes, I'd say he looks down." Phoebe answered honestly and took a sip from her milk. Helga looked pensive in Arnold's direction. Why did Mr. Sunshine look so down all of a sudden? He'd seemed just fine yesterday. What could possibly be bothering _him_ anyway? "I wonder what's wrong…"

"Well, Helga… this my just be my craziness talking, but you _could_ go over and ask him." Phoebe answered while looking a little to indifferent despite her sarcastic words. Helga snorted and turned to look back at her. "Yeah, _right_, and how would that go exactly? 'Hey there, football head. Boy, you look like hell today! Mind telling me what is wrong with you, so that I can fix it like that good little Samaritan, you know that I secrely am?' Good plan, Phoebe."

"Well, I didn't plan for the dripping sarcasm."

"But that's who I am, Phoebe! I think Arnold would get a heart attack, if I suddenly started worrying about him."

"Why?

"What do you mean 'why'? I'm Helga G. Pataki, that's why! Owner of The Five Angers and Ol' Betsy! I don't _worry_ about people's problems!"

"Except for Arnold's."

"Exactly. Except for - Oh, come on!" Helga stopped herself before she could confirm Phoebe's words. Phoebe started shaking her head. "I thought you guys had become friends ever since we got his parents back from San Lorenzo."

"Well… _friends_ is not really the word I'd use, but we're… something."

"Nothing more than friends?"

"Definitely not." Helga answered with a sigh and turned to look at Arnold again. Gerald seemed to be trying to say something to comfort him. Obviously, it didn't work, because Arnold now smacked his head against the table and just stayed like that. "Boy, he really _does_ look like hell…"

Not that her beloved could ever look bad in her eyes, but he didn't look like he'd slept at all the night before. It wasn't like her to worry this much about anyone, not even her football headed love god, but she couldn't help that her right leg was starting to shake a bit in agitation.

"Oh… screw it!" Helga mostly told herself before standing up from the table. "Come on, Pheebs, let's find out what is bumping him so much. I can't take the tension anymore." She said the last line with sarcasm, though there was obvious truth to it.

"Coming!" Phoebe answered cheerfully while standing up next to Helga, though she was already stomping towards the boys' table.

Since Arnold currently had his forehead laying against the table, it was only Gerald who noticed the girls coming over. "Oh, boy, here we go…" he mumbled to himself and let go of his best friend's back and put it under his own chin.

As Gerald had foreseen, Helga smacked her palms against the table in such an aggressive way, that Arnold popped his head up in shock. "Ok, football head, your mood is affecting the rest of us, so you could at least explain why you look like someone peed on your food."

Arnold just stared at Helga trying to comprehend that she was in front of him all of a sudden. She was bending rather close to him and if he stretched just a little bit, their noses would be touching. He couldn't help it; His eyes darted a little lower from her eyes down to her chest. Unlike her big sister her chest had developed quite… a bit. He mentally smacked his cheek to stop his thoughts from going wild. He hated hormones – They made him do and think things that wasn't very gentlemanly.

"I… Uh, I…" Arnold started nervously, before simply sighing and bumping his head against the cafeteria table again. "My cousin is coming to visit."

Helga could feel her brain crumble inside her skull. "Excuse me…?" she asked in such a normal tone that Phoebe couldn't help but worry. She knew how much Helga despised Arnie. Or actually not Arnie himself, more his love for her. It creeped her out in ways that only rats usually could.

"_What_… did you say?" Helga couldn't help the panic that started creeping up in her spine. Arnold looked up at her, not noticing the tone in her voice. "My cousin is coming to visit. He's coming today." He answered.

"I heard that, hair boy! I'm not deaf - Wait! _Today_?!" Helga repeated, now with obvious terror. Arnold cocked an eyebrow at her reaction. "Uh… yeah. Helga… why are you looking so pale?" he asked worriedly. She didn't answer though. Before he could ask her again, she started running out of the cafeteria.

"Helga!" Arnold called while standing up. "Forget it, Arnold, you're not gonna see her for awhile." Phoebe explained and sat down in front of the boys. "W-Why? What does she have against Arnie?" he asked and sat down again.

"Besides the obvious?" Gerald asked. Arnold turned to him with a frown. "Yeah, besides that." He answered. "Well, he's always… uh…" Phoebe suddenly wasn't sure whether or not to confide this information to Arnold and Gerald. It was after all Helga's business. "… creeped her out particularly."

Opposite Gerald who just nodded in understanding, Arnold didn't seem to buy Phoebe's explanation. He started to worry. What if Helga was looking forward to see Arnie again? First he felt a bit bad for her; He didn't even get to explain that it was Aaron and not Arnie coming to visit. Then afterwards he started frowning at the thought of Helga wanting to see Arnie. Maybe she knew he had a thing for her and was gonna tell him that she felt the same way.

Arnold tried remembering her facial expression, when he told her that his cousin was coming to visit. All he could see was a pale face on the blonde girl. She looked at him in horror, but it could also be because she was nervous about seeing Arnie again.

Arnold sighed loudly and banged his head against the cafeteria table yet again. No matter how he looked at it, another cousin _definitely_ wasn't welcome in his life.

* * *

Helga could barely feel her legs by the time she went out of the school and into the yard. She jumped behind a container and gasped for air. She held a hand to her heart, but felt something solid against her palm. She took ahold of the chain around her neck and pulled out a small, golden, heart-shaped locket that she kept hidden underneath her top. It looked just like the same locket she'd always worn, but in an attempt at trying to hide it more through the years, she chose to have a smaller one. With her chest also growing, it was hard to hide a locket of that size.

Helga opened the locket, still gasping a little bit for air, and let herself drown in the picture she had of Arnold in it. "Oh, Arnold!" she gasped while dazing at it. "How I love you and how I want to accept everything that is around you… but your cousin Arnie, he's just so… Granted, he looks a little like you… but he's nothing like you! I will try to be polite to him for your sake though, my love…" her voice had been soft and sweet until now. Her scowl returned with full force. "But if he tries to lay his hands on me, I'll rip his tongue out and wrap it around his neck!"

Helga sighed and took of her locket to get a better look at it. She started smiling immediately and sighed in a more dreamy way. She bumped the back of her head against the container. "Oh, Arnold… If only I could somehow help you. I know you aren't very fond of Arnie either," she said dreamily, but then got a pensive look on her face. "though I've never understood why. I mean, he's not a mean guy or anything, he's just a little annoying. Honestly, Arnold, your negative attitude against him surprises me a little."

Helga's face turned loving again. "You, who has always been able to look at the bright side of everything, seen the good in everybody, even _me_… What could Arnie have done to you, that I don't know of – despite stalking you night and day, when we were children – that could have been so bad, you'd lose faith in him?"

Then a grim thought struck Helga. Maybe it was because Arnie had dated Lila back in 4th grade? But did Arnie even know that Arnold had a crush on her back then? If he didn't know, then there really wasn't anything Arnie could do… Besides, Arnold had given up on Lila years ago – thank god – so that shouldn't be worth a grudge against him.

"No matter how I twist and turn it, my darling, I can't seem to figure out your hatred for your cousin. I wish I could somehow help you, my sweet, sweet angel! I hope that you will confide in me someday, and that I will be brave enough to just openly tell you that I _do_ want to be there for you, because I… because I love you! I love you, I love you, I love - "

"Whoa. Talk about desperate."

Despite sitting down, Helga managed to start kicking her legs in a panic and fell backwards to the ground beneath her. "Ow!" she exclaimed and arched her back a little at the pain. She had her eyes closed while she rubbed her head, so when a shadow appeared above her, he was blocking the sun.

Helga opened her eyes, in a moment forgetting that this person had just heard her monologging, and stared up at him. He was bending over, while crossing his arms and looking down at her. He was wearing a huge grin which exposed his pearly white teeth, which made a perfect contrast to his mulatto skin. His eyes were big, brown, and currently filled with curiosity while looking at her. The wind that started to take ahold of her hair and made it wave against the asphalt, also made his short black hair wave just a little bit.

The guy hovering above her wore a simply black shirt – a few of the upper buttons opened, Helga noted – and a pair of dark blue pants. If she didn't currently have her head in an angle that made it impossible to do so, then she would have seen that he also wore a pair of fancy, slightly sparkly black shoes.

"You ok?" the guy asked looking less than worried about her well-being. He looked rather amused actually, which just pissed Helga off even more. "No! I'm not ok! You scared the shit outta me!" she answered angrily and sat up straight. "Sorry, sorry." The guy answered still with that annoyingly smug smile on his dumb face. She turned around to face him over her shoulder. His… rather handsome face, she had to admit. Who in the world was he?

"You'd better be! I swear, if it wasn't because you don't know who I am and you therefore don't know what you're up against, I would introduce you to my fists!" Helga ranted angrily while standing up to dust herself off. "Oh, yeah? And who _am_ I up against?" the guy asked with a raised eyebrow. She looked at him. "Helga G. Pataki. And who are _you_?" she asked while crossing her arms.

The guy shrugged. "No one important." He answered. "The hell you aren't! You just heard me… me…" Reality dawned on Helga while she was saying those words. This guy had just heard her talk about Arnold! _Monologging_ about Arnold! This was terrible! Horrible! She wanted to faint!

"I just heard you talk about, apparently, the love of your life." The guy finished for her. She groaned angrily at him and took ahold of his collar. She yanked him down to her level – which wasn't a lot, since she was rather tall. "You heard _nothing_, got that?"

The guy stared at her for a couple of second, before smiling in triumph. "I'm pretty sure I heard something _very_ interesting though." He answered. Her grip around his collar went stronger and her eyes were practically on fire with anger. "If you tell _anyone_ about what you just heard, I'll - "

"Rip my tongue out and wrap it around my neck?" the guy asked. Helga went wide eyed at his statement. "Did… Did you hear that much?" she asked in terror. "Uh-huh." He answered smugly and took ahold of that one of her hands, she was holding his collar with. "And may I point out that you really should check your surroundings before talking like that."

Helga growled deeply at him, but just looked at him in shock when he removed her hand from his collar. He kept holding her hand between their chests though. "Let go of me, you stalker!" she demanded and tried to push him away with her free hand. "Stalker?" he repeated in disbelief. "The pot calling the kettle black, don't you think?"

"I-I don't stalk him anymore!" Helga said in defense of herself. "Oh, so you admit to have been stalking him before? Man, you really are obsessed with this boy, aren't you?" the guy asked her in amusement. She stopped pushing at him and went wide-eyed. What was she thinking?! Oh, right, _nothing_! Her brain had shut down, she only needed to tell him about the shrines she built also as a child, and he would know everything!

"L-Let go, you psycho!" Helga demanded yet again and pulled even harder away from him this time. "Oh, _I'm_ the psycho?" he asked and used his free hand to take ahold on her locket. "I'm not the one carrying around a locket of my _darling_."

"Don't you dare touch it!" Helga shrieked and stopped hitting at him to try and pry her locket out of his hand. "Too late. I already have. Now what? You're gonna boil it in holy water?" he asked her mockingly. "Get your filthy hands off my locket!" Helga demanded in such an angry tone, that the guy in front of her, obviously got surprised enough to let go. Unfortunately for her, he let go completely and she stumbled back towards the container.

"Watch out!"

"Helga!"

Two different boys called to her, but Helga's back still made a violent contact with the metal and she could feel pain shoot right through her. She forced a cry in agony down, while she let herself tumble to the solid ground beneath her.

When Helga felt a presence beside her, she tried to push the person away, thinking it was that guy again. "Leave me alone!" she told him, but felt a gentle hand take ahold of her back and help her up in a sitting position. She opened her eyes and saw someone, she always loved to be this close to. "Arnold?" she asked incredulous and quickly shoved her locket into her pocket. _Be still, my beating heart!_

"Helga, are you ok? What happened?" Arnold asked worried and looked behind her. She felt the pain in her back again and arched it a little. "You're bleeding!"

"I'm fine, football head. It just hurts like hell." Helga told him. Arnold cocked an eyebrow at her. She looked sullen for a second before waving her hand. "Yeah, yeah, I heard it too the moment I said it. Shut up and help me up, would ya'?" she asked him. He nodded at her and took a firmer grip around her waist. She noted to herself to write about this very moment in one of her many poetry books at home. Arnold also grabbed her wrist to snake her arm over his shoulders and then got her standing up.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to fall." A voice said. Helga and Arnold looked up to see the guy in front of them, looking honestly sorry for what had just happened. Now that Helga thought about it, she was pretty sure he'd actually been the other boy to yell before she fell down.

Helga knew he hadn't meant it, but she'd still fallen and was seen in a ridiculous state by Arnold thanks to him. She was just about to rant at him, when Arnold cut in. "Wait… aren't you…?"

Helga and the guy looked at him curiously. "Aren't I who?" the guy asked, but his eyes slowly went bigger. "Oh! You must be Arnold, right?"

Helga could feel her brain crumble again. How did that arrogant son of a bitch know he was Arnold?! And - oh god! He _knew_ it was Arnold, _her_ Arnold! This guy could bust her secret within seconds, if she didn't think fast!

Helga didn't get the chance to think about anything though, because Arnold started looking at the guy in front of them in slight discomfort. "Yeah, I'm Arnold… and you must be Aaron?" he asked. The guy nodded and started to walk towards them.

Helga looked at Arnold. "You know this guy?!" she asked in disbelief. He shrugged. "Sorta." He answered. "_Sorta_? What the hell do you mean sorta?!" she asked, slowly starting to panic. "It's the first time we meet." The guy, apparently named "Aaron" answered.

Helga turned to look at him with a scowl. "Oh, yeah? And how do you know Arnold?" she asked despite not wanting to know. She just wanted to run away and bang her head, until she forgot about this whole ordeal. And do the same thing to this Aaron guy!

"We're cousins." Arnold and Aaron answered together. Helga could have sworn she went deaf after that. The sounds of other students that had emerged out into the schoolyard disappeared completely. When she came to her senses, she turned to look at Arnold who looked back at her. "You have _another_ cousin?!" she asked as if that should have been impossible.

Arnold couldn't help but smile at her question and nodded. "I didn't get to tell you that it wasn't Arnie who was coming to visit before you ran out." He answered. Helga looked away, a little embarrassed at that extreme reaction. "It's Aaron, my cousin on my father's side, who's going to be here through all of April."

Helga went wide-eyed again and looked back to Aaron, who had a hard time not laughing at her endless shifts of expression. "A month?!" she shrieked not trying to hide her discomfort at all. "Yes, one whole month of bonding with my new favorite cousin." Aaron asked obviously trying mostly to tease Helga, but not enough for Arnold to notice who just smiled a little.

"_You're…_ related to… Arnold?" Helga asked as slowly as she could to drag out the answer, she already knew too well. He nodded in a nonchalant way. "Yup. Nice to meet you," he answered and held out his hand. "Helga."

Helga just kept staring at Aaron, while her hand moved on it's own to take ahold of his. He shook their hands before letting go. Her hand fell to her side in a robotic motion and Arnold started to worry about her. "Helga, did you hit your head when you fell?"

"… Huh?" Helga mumbled not really hearing him at first, but then shook her head. "Oh! Uh, no! Don't worry, football head, I'm alright. I'll just walk myself to the nurse, ok? Ok." She decided quickly before he could even have a chance to answer.

Helga managed to take one step out of Arnold's grip, before the pain shot through her back and she crumbled to the ground. "Helga!" Arnold exclaimed and sat next to her, putting his hand behind her waist again. "I'll help you to the nurse, ok?" he asked. She lifted her head to refuse, but he cut in before she could say anything. "Ok."

Helga looked at him in disbelief for a second, before he winked at her and made her laugh a little at his comeback. "Alright, alright. Sheesh, football head, you'll always be such a worrywart, won't you?" she asked and let him pull her up in a standing position again. "You know me so well, Helga." He answered with an honest smile. She would have started blushing at that oh-so very true statement, but the sound of Aaron's voice reminded her they were not alone. "I'll wait out here for you, Arnold. You still have a few classes left, don't you?"

Arnold and Helga turned their heads around to look at him. "Yeah, but it won't be too long. It's a short day. I'll see you later, Aaron." Arnold answered and started to walk with Helga towards the door.

Helga wanted to get out of that schoolyard as fast as possible! She wanted to get away from this new cousin of Arnolds, whom she frankly liked even _less_ than Arnie! And that was saying a lot. He knew her secret. _Her secret_. And Arnold was his cousin! He was gonna live at the boarding house for a _whole month_! There was no way he wouldn't tell Arnold. He didn't have any reason _not_ to.

Helga wanted to get to this Aaron guy before Arnold did after school. She needed to make him understand the consequences he would have to meet, if he spilled the beans to Arnold. To anyone really! He thought ripping his tongue out and wrapping it around his neck was bad?

Hell no! She was older now! She knew _exactly_ where to hit a guy where it hurts. When she was done with him, he'd be wearing his balls as a scarf!

"Oh, and Arnold!" Aaron called again, when they had been just about to walk inside. "What?" Arnold asked. Helga didn't like that smug smile that Aaron exposed. "Just out of curiosity… Are there any other Arnolds at this school?"

Arnold lifted his eyebrows at the odd question. Why would he wonder about that? "Uh… no, I'm… the only one." He answered while feeling Helga's grip on his shoulder tighten. She could have strangled Arnold at that very moment.

"Hmm…" Aaron said thoughtfully and turned to gaze at Helga in particular, who felt like a deer in the headlights. "Interesting."

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: So this is the beginning of the blackmail! Well, almost, since Aaron's not really told Helga **_**exactly**_** how he is gonna blackmail her with her secret. I hope you find this story interesting, and I can tell you now that **_**yes**_** the PG-rating is not very fitting at this moment, but trust me, it will be VERY fitting later, so I'm gonna keep it the way it is. Please do review and follow this story if you want to know what happens next. See ya! :D**


	2. Painfully obvious

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": _Arnold told Gerald that he had yet another cousin named Aaron who was coming to visit that very day. Demanding to know, why he looked so down in the dumps, he also told Helga the same thing. But he didn't get to tell her it wasn't his other cousin Arnie who was coming to visit, before she ran out of the cafeteria in terror._**

**_After about ten minutes later, he went outside to try and find her. To his big surprise he saw her standing rather close to a strange boy. She was yelling at him to get his filthy hands of her locket, before she tumbled back into the container behind her._**

**_The boy, who didn't mean for the small accident to happen, turned out to be his cousin Aaron. So when he told him that he would bring Helga to the nurse's office, he answered that he would wait for him in the yard. But not long after he called to him and asked if he was the only Arnold at the school?_**

**_Arnold felt Helga's grip on his shoulder tense up quite a bit, when he answered that he was the only one. To his confusion, it seemed like that answer amused Aaron quite a bit._**

**Author's 1st note: Yeah, I'm a flashback/what-happened-the-last-time kinda girl, so you don't have to try and remember what the heck happened the last time! I will be doing that in the other chapters too, so you can just sit back and relax, without having to worry about if you can't remember the last chapter xD I know that feeling oh too well myself. Especially if the writer is a little slow :3**

* * *

Chapter 2: "Painfully obvious"

"Hmm…" Aaron said thoughtfully and turned to gaze at Helga in particular, who felt like a deer in the headlights. "Interesting."

Helga could feel her heartbeat quicken at the obvious mischief in Aaron's eyes. She wanted to growl at him, but she was standing far too close to Arnold to do that, without him wondering if she'd gotten rabies or something.

And speaking of Arnold, though he was known as a little dense, not even he could not notice the tension between his cousin and Helga. She was practically digging her fingernails into his shoulder as if he was made of modeling wax! He didn't dare to point it out though.

He didn't hear much of their conversation before. He'd walked out, when he heard something about boiling something in holy water. That's when Helga had screamed for him to let go of her locket, and she'd fallen backwards into the container.

Remembering his task at hand, Arnold took ahold of the door handle to his right side and pulled at the door. "Come on, Helga." He requested and started walking slowly. She didn't seem like she heard him, but she was still somehow keeping up with his pace. "See you later, Aaron!"

"Yeah…" the two teens could hear Aaron answering. "See ya' later."

* * *

The trip to the nurse's office had been quiet and uneventful. Helga seemed to be completely distracted by something, while Arnold just wanted her to get to the nurse as soon as possible. He hoped nothing was seriously wrong with her back.

He waited inside the room, while the nurse looked at Helga. She was seated on a white bed and was told to breath normally into a stethoscope. When she just did as she was told, Arnold got worried. She'd usually complain and keep claiming that she was just dandy and there was no reason to make such a fuss, but she was just sitting there with a distant look on her face. Maybe she really did hit her head?

"Excuse me, Ms. Pataki, would you mind taking off your belt?" the nurse asked kindly while putting the stethoscope away. Helga just straightened her back and took off her belt. She was making a painful expression while doing so though. When she was done, the nurse went behind her back and pulled her top up a little. Arnold immediately looked away. It wasn't like he was seeing anything promiscuous by seeing her stomach, but he still felt a little awkward.

Helga, who truly had her thoughts elsewhere, did notice Arnold's sudden change of expression. She cocked her head to she side at the sight of him coughing a little in his hand with his cheeks slightly flushed. What in the world was the matter with him?

She sighed. Like if she had time to figure out what the football head was thinking right now. She needed a plan to make sure that this Aaron guy didn't spill the beans. _Her_ beans! But how? She could threaten him, as she always did under such circumstances. But doing that might end up biting her in her ass, since he was Arnold's cousin.

Helga was thinking long and hard about how else she could approach this issue. If threatening him wasn't an option, then what was left? Paying him? Yeah, like she had the money for that! Besides, he was New Yorker. As if he didn't have more money than a Hillwood girl to begin with.

What's left? Helga widened her eyes as a single word, she usually only thought of, when she wanted _others_ to do it, came to mind: Begging. No. No way. No _stinkin'_ way! Helga G. Pataki did _not_ beg! But what _did_ Helga G. Pataki do…? Threaten people. And that didn't seem to be an option. She mentally sighed. But _really_…? Begging? Begging that stuck-up, arrogant, eavesdropping cousin of Arnold's to not tell on her?

"Well, Helga, your back seems to be alright, but I would recommend you to go home for the day. I'll write a note you can give to your teacher for the next period." The nurse all of a sudden said, while pulling her tank top back down again. "Alright, thanks, doc." Helga answered and hopped down from the bed. She could feel her back crunch a little, but it wasn't nearly as bad as before.

It wasn't until the nurse's words repeated in her head, that she smiled widely. She had the rest of the day off! That meant she could go and talk to Aaron before Arnold! Oh, praise her lucky stars! "I'll walk with you home, Helga." Arnold said while standing up himself. _Oh, damn you!_ Helga thought. _Oh, Arnold, how I would love for you to walk me home. You are such a thoughtful guy. But seriously, why now when I can't say no?! Your timing sucks, football head!_

"Naw, that's ok, Arnoldo, I can walk by myself." Helga quickly answered trying to brisk him off, though she knew it would take more than that to stop Arnold from trying to walk her home. "Yeah, I know, Helga, but I just wanna make sure you get home ok." He explained and was about to take ahold of her back again, but she quickly pulled away. "Hey! Watch it, geek bait! I let you hold me on the way in here, because I didn't have a choice and I was still dizzy, but that does _not_ mean I want you to go around getting all mushy on me, got it?"

Arnold's face fell a bit at her harsh words, and she couldn't help the guilt she suddenly felt. _Great, now I feel like a bitch. He, as if that's anything new._ "Ok, listen, Arnold, I just… wanna go home already, ok? If you really wanna help me, then could you please give that note to our teacher?" she asked of him, when she felt the nurse poke the note at her shoulder. She quickly took it and stretched her arm to give it to him. "Well, I don't mind doing that, Helga," he said while taking it. "but if you could wait just a second outside, then I would be out really quickly and then - "

Helga stopped Arnold's rant by placing a hand on his shoulder. "No can do, Arnold, I'm not gonna let you walk me home, got it? You've already helped me plenty. Thanks. See ya' tomorrow, football head." She said, patted his shoulder a couple of time in the most friendly manner she could manage and then turned on her heel to walk out of the room.

Arnold stood still, looking a bit dumbfounded at the now closed door. Had Helga… _Helga Pataki_… just thanked him? It was rather short and it was in the middle of everything, but she _did_ say 'thanks'. He couldn't help the crooked smile which appeared on his face. He looked down at the note and started gazing a little at it. Their fingers had touched, when he took the note. He sighed, said goodbye to the nurse and went outside. He was definitely a goner.

* * *

"Alright. Where is that son of a bitch?" Helga mumbled under her breath, when she stepped outside into the now empty schoolyard. Except for one person that was. Aaron was currently sitting at one of the benches in the far end of the school grounds. She started stomping towards him immediately.

When Helga was in front of him, she pulled on her best scowl and crossed her arms. It took Aaron a few second before he felt her presence and looked up. He smiled in that characteristically smug way and pulled his headphones down to his shoulders. "Why, Helga, what could you possibly want from me?"

Helga didn't answer. She just kept scowling at him. His smile didn't fade, while he kept talking. "Ok, I'm sorry about your back, but it seems to me it got you the rest of the day off, so it isn't completely terrible now, is it?"

Helga didn't answer. Finally Aaron's smile disappeared and he sighed. "Ok, you obviously wanna say something, so just say it."

"… What does it take for you to shut up?" Helga asked blankly. Aaron first frowned at her question. Then his face turned neutral and he lifted his foot from the ground to let its ankle rest on the thigh of his other leg.

They just stayed as they were, looking challenging at each other. Finally Helga's patience ended. "Aren't you gonna say anything?!" she asked, feeling more annoyed than usual. She wasn't used to people ignoring her. "I thought you wanted me to shut up?" Aaron asked, starting to smile just a little bit at the corner of his mouth.

Helga's eyes widened in disbelief. "I can't believe… You're so… Oh, my god, are you really _that_ stupid?! That's not what I meant, bucko! What I meant was - "

"I _know_ what you meant, Helga!" Aaron cut in, starting to frown at her unnecessary anger. "Then why did you - oh, never mind! Answer me!" she ordered him and put her hands at each side of her waist. He started to look nonchalantly at his fingernails. "Ever tried asking nicely?"

"… You gotta be kidding me!"

"Afraid not, toots. Ask me nicely in that sweet tone, I heard you talk in earlier."

This arrogant, little…! Helga could have started strangling this guy in pure anger. He actually had the balls to mess with her!? _Her_!? It took every fiber in her being not to smack him silly right then and there. She took a deep breath and prepared herself for doing something, she'd solemnly vowed to never do.

With gritted teach and her eyes turned as far away from the boy in front her as possible, she crossed her arms again. "Would you… not tell… anyone about my… secret…?" she forced out of her mouth. She quickly eyed him to see, if it was to his satisfaction. He raised an eyebrow. "What is the magic word?" he asked. She rolled her eyes dramatically. "Please! _Please_ don't tell my secret to Arnold, to Gerald to _anyone_!"

Aaron couldn't help but blink a little rapidly at the obviously serious request from the blonde girl in front of him. She was shaking with anger and embarrassment, but she had done it. She'd begged for him not to tell on her.

Aaron smiled genuinely at Helga, and it took her a little by surprise. "I'm not gonna tell anyone your secret, Helga." He told her honestly. She looked skeptically at him for a moment. "Really?" she asked. "Yes, really." He answered. She started smiling a little. "Why, thanks, that's surprisingly nice of you. Well, I'll just mosey my way home before you change your mind."

Helga only took a few steps before stopping immediately, when she heard Aaron talk again. He simply said a few words, but it was enough to make her blood run cold. "But _you_ should."

She slowly turned around to look at him. "I should what?"

"Tell someone. Arnold, preferably."

"What!? Who gives you the right to tell me that?!"

"Oh, I don't know… Maybe that I know your secret, and for now I don't really have a reason not to tell anyone."

"Besides me practically begging?"

"You call that begging?"

"Yes!" Helga exclaimed dramatically and went back at her spot in front Aaron. "To me that _was_ begging! You don't know me, pal, but let me tell you: If anyone in my class heard me say what I just said to you, be sure that they would have a stroke! Helga G. Pataki doesn't _beg_."

"Unless it's about Arnold?"

"Exactly. Unless it's about - no! Just in general!"

Aaron took a deep breath and then sighed heavily. "Boy, you're stubborn…" he mumbled under his breath, but Helga heard it anyhow. "You bet your ass I'm stubborn! I've been hiding this since I was three years old! No way am I gonna risk you ruining that!"

Aaron went wide-eyed. "Three years old?! So you've been in love with him for - "

"Thirteen years, that's right! So _please_ can you keep your mouth shut?" Helga asked yet again. He'd already promised, but she just had this nagging feeling in the back of her mind telling her that it was far from over. Aaron crossed his arms and looked at her curiously. "Thirteen years… Boy… that _didn't_ escalate quickly, huh?"

Helga rolled her eyes heavily. "Oh, haw-haw. Cheap shot, bucko. Now… _are_ you gonna keep your mouth shut or do I have to literally make you shut it?" she asked again. Aaron looked pensive for a moment. "Can I confide you in something, Helga?"

She looked confused. Who could blame her? Why would he confide anything in her? He was probably joking. She waved a hand in a 'whatever' kind of way. He smiled at her. "I'm from a big city. I'm used to have excitement and drama around me all the time. When my parents suggested I went to Hillwood my first thought was that it was gonna be boring as hell. No offense to Hillwood, it's a nice lil' city. But little nevertheless."

"Is there a point hidden in there somewhere?"

"You're not very patient, are you?" Aaron asked seriously. Helga just started tapping her foot to the ground in an impatient way. He chuckled. "Alright, alright. Bottom line is: I have a feeling I'm gonna get bored here. I'm looking forward to getting to know Arnold, my uncle, aunt and my grandparents, but I can't be cooped up in that boarding house 24/7."

"Still waiting for that point, Buster." Helga said annoyed. Aaron's smug smile appeared on his face again and he stood up from the bench. "That's where _you_ get in the picture." He answered as if that should make her realize his intentions. She just frowned at him. "I'm not gonna like this, am I?"

"You don't really have a choice, now do you?" Aaron asked while keeping that smirk on his lips. Helga began growling at the back of her throat, while she waited for him to drop whatever bomb he was planning on dropping. "I want you make sure that I'm… entertained through this month."

"… Oh, no. No, no, no! Forget it! I'm not gonna do you any _favors_!" Helga cringed at the last word. Aaron looked at her confused, until it hit him. "Oh, get your mind out of the gutter, Helga! That's _not_ the kind of favors, I'm talking about!" he told her, a little disappointed in finding out, that she thought he was that much of a sleaze ball. "Besides," he continued and put on his smirk again. "I wouldn't need to trick a girl to make her do me any _favors_."

Helga simply cringed again at the mere thought. It wasn't because of Aaron, it was because of Arnold. She'd never had interest in any other boys besides him. The mere thought actually made her nauseous. And it wasn't because she hadn't thought about trying sexual stuff herself… but it was always Arnold in her mind. There simply wasn't room for any other boys. No matter how handsome the majority of girls considered him.

"So… how _do _you expect me to entertain you?" Helga asked, not really wanting to know. "Oh, we'll figure that out along the way." Aaron asked and shoved his hands into his pockets. She looked at him in incredulity. "You gotta be kidding! You're not even gonna tell me how my torture through this month is gonna go?!"

"Well, do remember that I didn't come to Hillwood only to torture you, Helga. I'm here to get to know my family, and you're just an unexpected bonus. Besides, I need to talk to Arnold first before I decide."

"Wait, what?!"

"Don't worry, Helga, I'm not gonna talk to him _like that_. I just gotta find out a few things, before I decide how my blackmailing is gonna go." Aaron answered and then it truly dawned on Helga. She was being blackmailed! "Oh, god…" she mumbled and started to massage her temple. "This is gonna be one long month, isn't it?"

"You think so? I think it's just gonna fly away in front of our eyes." Aaron answered and was met with the intense stare of Helga. "Ok, ok. I'll leave you alone now. Go home, Helga, you need plenty of rest for tomorrow. Because that's when it'll all begin." With those words he took ahold of her shoulders and turned her around.

"Hey!" Helga said before he could push her. She turned around. "I have _one_ rule, no matter what you decide for your little scheme. Do _not_ touch me!"

Aaron was again taken aback by the forcefulness in Helga's voice. There was something in her eyes when she was angry. A kind of fire. Which was odd considered her eyes were blue. He smiled a little and stepped back. "Got it."

Helga let her intense stare linger for a moment, before turning around on her heel and started to walk away with her arms stretched to her sides and her fists curled up. She started to mumble profanities under her breath while she went on her merry way home.

* * *

While all of this went on, Arnold was sitting in class. He kept switching between being eager to get out and wanting this class to never end. But it was usually the eagerness that would win, since his current class was History.

Aaron had seemed like an ok guy, but that wasn't really the issue on Arnold's mind. Why had he and Helga been talking just before? And why did she seem so mad at him? And what locket were they talking about? He'd never noticed her wearing a locket of any sort. It must have been pretty small to not be noticed. He did remember seeing a gold chain around her neck from time to time though. Did she hide a locket beneath her clothes? Now, why would she do that?

He couldn't help but smile. She was always full of secrets, weren't she? He hoped she'd never change, but he also wouldn't mind being the one she'd confide in. Even if he was the only one. A small part of him actually wouldn't mind being the _only_ one. Helga did seem like the kind of girl who wouldn't tell her secrets to just anyone. He couldn't help but feel that he would be the happiest boy in the universe, if she confided in him just once.

The bell shook him out of his thoughts. He quickly started to collect his things - and himself for that matter - and stood up. "Hey, Arnold." He heard Gerald say behind him. "Wanna make me come with you and give you moral support?"

Arnold smiled. "That's ok, Gerald. I actually met him just before out in the yard."

"Really? So what's he like?"

"Can't tell yet. He seems ok, but he was arguing with Helga."

"Dude, who isn't arguing with Helga?"

"Gerald…"

"Just kidding! Well, not really, but you know what I mean." Gerald answered with a smile. Arnold just sighed and made his hand ready to do their handshake. Gerald took it. "You sure you're gonna be alright, man?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. See you tomorrow, Gerald."

"See ya', buddy."

Arnold was out in the schoolyard within a minute and quickly noticed Aaron sitting on a bench. With a couple of girls surrounding him. Some of them from his old childhood gang. While walking closer, he recognized Rhonda, Lila and Nadine. Rhonda and Nadine were no surprise, but Lila was. No, wait, she wasn't. She'd always seemed to like everyone but him. He rolled his eyes at the thought. Man, was he happy to get over her back then.

"Oh, hey, Arnold! You sure have friendly classmates." Aaron said when he noticed Arnold and winked at no girl in particular. They all giggled, thinking it was them he winked at. "Yeah, I do." Arnold answered honestly. "So, wanna walk home now or do you wanna talk some more?"

"Oh, yes, please do stay." Lila answered for him and snuck herself a little closer to him. "I still want to hear all about the glamour of New York." Rhonda added. Nadine didn't really say anything besides flashing her eyelashes at him.

"I'm sorry, girls, but I really do need to get home. We'll see each other tomorrow anyways, right?" Aaron reminded them while standing up. "Oh, right." The girls all said in unison and giggled. "Bye, Aaron. Bye, Arnold."

"See ya' later, chicks." Aaron answered, clicked with his tongue and started walking with Arnold who just waved with his back turned to them. He knew they wouldn't notice anyway, so why bother saying goodbye?

"What do you mean you'll see them tomorrow?" Arnold asked, suddenly realizing what his cousin had said. "Hmm? Oh, I'm gonna be a student at your high school for the next month." Aaron answered nonchalantly. "Didn't you know?"

Arnold stopped in his tracks. "No, I… didn't know that. No one's told me anything." He answered, sighed and kept walking. "Well, I am. Sorry if that's a problem for you." Aaron said with a mix of annoyance and honesty in his voice. "N-No, it's not a problem at all." Arnold quickly answered.

It was a lie. He had a _serious_ problem with him following him every step of the day. Arnie did the same thing back in 4th grade and look how that turned out! Oh, god, what if it was _exactly_ the same thing? No! He could not stand to see Helga hand in hand with some other guy! Or worse, _kissing_ another - No! The mere thought made his hands curl into fists.

Speaking of Helga, she and Aaron already had an encounter. Oh, it was already looking really bad… Then again she'd seemed really pissed at him. What was that about anyway? He never got the chance to ask her at the nurse's office. Or more like he was more concerned about her well-being rather than another one of her fights.

"Hey, Aaron, can I ask you something?"

"Sure you can ask. Can't promise I'll answer though."

"… What did you and Helga talk about earlier?"

"Sorry, Arnold, can't answer that." Aaron answered nonchalantly. Arnold look at him, surprised. "Why not?" he asked. Aaron started smiling. "Because I think Helga would rip my tongue out and wrap it around my neck, if I told anyone."

Arnold could feel something shatter in his chest. "What?" he asked in incredulity. "What do you mean? Did she… Did you two talk in secret or something?"

"Guess you can say that, yeah."

"… Impossible! Helga doesn't tell anyone _anything_!" Arnold exclaimed. Aaron looked at him curiously. "Well, she told _me_ something about herself."

"Like what?"

"Now, Arnold, you aren't asking me to tell on other people, are you?" Aaron asked him with an eyebrow raised. Arnold looked away in shame. "N-No, I'm not. I just… Never mind." He answered. He could feel a sharp pain in his chest at the thought of his cousin knowing something about Helga that he himself _did not_. What would she tell him anyway? And why? Then again maybe he was lying. Maybe he just wanted to push his buttons or something. But he really didn't look like he was lying.

"Are you worried about her, Arnold?" Aaron suddenly asked after what felt like forever in silence. Arnold's head jerked right up and he looked a little baffled at his question, Aaron noted. "Uh… I-I… I mean I, uh… Wh… Why?" he asked. Aaron shrugged. "Curiosity, I guess. I'm trying to guess your relationship. You seemed _really_ worried about her, when she fell, and it seemed like you guys flirted a little bit."

"Flirted…? Really? You… think so?" Arnold asked with a little bit of hope in his eyes. Aaron smiled and nodded. "Oh, and what's with that nickname football head?" he asked and started laughing a little. Arnold cringed a little, but couldn't hide his smile. "She's called me that ever since preschool."

"Preschool? Whoa, so you guys meet when you were _three_?" Aaron asked, remembering how Helga had said she'd been in love with Arnold since that age. Arnold nodded. "How did that go?" Aaron asked.

Arnold started staring off into the sky while remembering that rainy day. "Well… I remember seeing her all covered in mud. I never found out why, but she looked really down back then. It was raining really heavily, so when I saw her, I tried covering her from the rain with my umbrella. I remember telling her I liked her bow."

"Bow? As in that one she had around her neck today?"

"Yeah, that's the one, but she used to tie it up in her hair, when we were kids." Arnold answered. Aaron cocked his head to the side in a pensive way. So besides that locket, she also wore a bow even after thirteen years, just because he had complimented it? Either there was more to this story than Arnold knew or this chick had a serious problem with attachment.

"Then that was kinda the first encounter." Arnold continued with a smile. "The next one was when I saw that Harold, who is also in the same high school as us, stole her crackers from her. She looked really sad, so I asked if she wanted mine."

"Aw, aren't you just adorable?" Aaron asked while bashing his eyelashes in an overly girly manner at Arnold. He laughed at that and pushed him away from him in a playful way. "She _did_ seem really happy at getting them…"

Then Arnold's smile turned into a frown. "What happened?" Aaron asked after noticing that. "That was when… she started bullying people. When I went back to my seat, Harold made fun of how happy she was at getting my crackers. The others started laughing at her. You know, I've never told anyone, but I've always felt a little guilty. Like, if I just hadn't given her my crackers that day, then maybe they wouldn't have laughed and she wouldn't have pushed Harold. It kinda feels like it's my fault that she turned out the way she is now."

Aaron just stared at Arnold as they were walking. "So… is that why you accept her calling you football head and such?" he asked. Arnold shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know… In a way, yes, I guess so, but mostly it's because I know for certain that she doesn't always mean it in a bad way."

"What do you mean?"

"She's… complicated. One moment she can be really mean and push people around, but the next she can be really kind and caring. I remember back when I had this crush on Lila, the redheaded girl sitting next to you before. When she dumped me, Helga suddenly fell down from a tree when Lila walked away."

"Fell from a tree?!"

"Yeah… she said something about it being exercise or something." Arnold answered while laughing a little. Aaron also laughed but for a different reason. _Exercise my ass!_ He thought. _She was stalking him. Man, she's really something._ "And then what?"

"Well, we talked about Lila and she was… really understanding. I think that was the first time she ever considered my feelings so much." Arnold answered and started to look up in the sky. Aaron started smirking at that obvious lovesick grin that was on Arnold's face. "So… is it safe to say that you like her, Arnold?"

Arnold stopped dead in his tracks with a big blush on his cheeks. "Wh-What?! No! I-I mean, yes! I mean… sure I like her. I've _always_ liked her." He babbled. Aaron stopped too, now a few steps ahead of him. "Yeah, but I meant… _like her_ like her. But, hey, you don't have to tell me."

_Because it's painfully obvious that you do, Arnold._ Aaron thought with a smirk while he kept on walking towards the boarding house with Arnold following him a few steps back.

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: OK! So that was chapter 2 :D I hope you guys liked it and will keep reviewing and following this my first ever long fan fiction :D See ya next time, when Aaron will finally tell Helga what he's got planning for her.**


	3. A million times worse

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**Aaron, Arnold's cousin, has found out that Helga's in love with Arnold! And he's not scared of taking advantage of it. He's already told her he's planning on making her entertain her, whatever that means she'll find out tomorrow.**_

_**Arnold on the other hand is oblivious to what is going on between his cousin and his crush. But he's started to feel a little insecure about it, because he's found out that Aaron knows a secret about Helga. Also he seems a little too interested in her.**_

**Author's 1st note: So third chapter of this story :D I'd say I'm pretty fast at writing these for now, don't you think? :P I mean one each day should be satisfying… right? *-***

* * *

Chapter 3: "A million times worse"

"Hey, Arnold! Hey, Arnold! Hey, Arnold!"

"What is that?!" Aaron yelled when he woke up with a start. "Calm down. It's just my alarm clock." Arnold answered and sat up to turn it off. Aaron groaned and fell back unto the couch. "Seriously? You have a potato clock that calls your name? I don't know if it's cool or geeky."

Arnold rolled his eyes and swung his legs out of the bed. He just wanted to ignore Aaron as much as he could. It wasn't like the boy was annoying or anything. But Arnold couldn't help that knot that kept forming in his stomach at the thought of him knowing something about Helga that he _didn't_.

The night before had been full of eager conversation between his cousin and the other boarders, including his parents. He could vaguely remember some stories about his life in New York, but that was just about it. He didn't really listen to much he said and he didn't want to. Unfortunately, this was the day that he'd start going to the same school as him and he was a little unsure of how he wished for Helga to react.

She'd seemed to be really angry at Aaron, so he didn't want her to suffer through a whole month because of him. But knowing she'd also told him a secret of some sort made him want her to hate him with all her guts. He sighed. When did he turn into such a hypocrite?

Aaron wasn't exactly oblivious to Arnold's mood. It was clear that ever since claiming that Helga had told him a secret on her own account, he'd been whining about it. It was evident he wanted her all to himself and if it wasn't because that was something Helga would probably love, he'd call his cousin pathetically jealous.

Aaron smirked to himself while sitting up on the fold-out couch, which had been surprisingly comfortable. And thanks to that obvious jealousy on Arnold's face, despite him not really confirming his feelings for Helga, he knew _exactly_ how to blackmail her.

* * *

About a half hour later, both boys were dressed and were currently sitting around the dinner table with the other boarders. "Good morning, boys." Stella greeted and gave a quick kiss to Arnold's head. "Good morning, mom." He answered while trying to hide the very small frown at her for kissing him like that at his age.

"Mornin', Aunt Stella." Aaron answered with a charming smile on his face. She smiled back at him before Miles also walked into the room. "Good morning, beautiful." He said to Stella and gave her a lingering kiss on the cheek. "Good morning, yourself." She answered with a loving smile.

Despite his sour mood, Arnold couldn't help but smiling at his parents' exchange. He wanted to be like that with a girl someday; Still completely in love after several years of marriage. That girl was preferably be Helga. If he ever got the balls to confess to her.

"So what's for breakfast?" Oskar on the other side of the table asked, looking like he was ready to eat a horse right about now. "Pancakes!" Gertie yelled from inside the kitchen before she came out with several plates balancing on her arms and head. All of them with at least twenty pancakes on it.

"Whoa, shouldn't we help her? There's no way she can handle all that on her - " Aaron had been about to stand up and help his grandma, but before he could react she was already swinging the plates as if they were Frisbees. Arnold quickly caught them as they came and placed them around the table in a smooth rhythm matching Gertie's moves perfectly. "Nice cathin', Tex!" she called to Arnold before sitting down on a chair next to her husband Phil.

Arnold quickly sat down again with a smile plastered on his face and turned to a stunned looking Aaron. "You were saying?" he asked and couldn't help but bash a little on the inside. Aaron started smiling again. "Nothing." He answered while putting his hands up in mock defense. "Absolutely nothing."

* * *

"So, Aaron, are you excited for your first day at school?" Susie asked him before putting a piece of pancake into her mouth. "I really am, actually. I've already met some of Arnold's classmates who's also going to be mine. They all seem really…" Aaron stopped for a second, almost as if for a dramatic effect and pulled his glass of milk up to his mouth. "interesting."

Arnold cocked an eyebrow at that last statement. _Who_ exactly was interesting? It seemed like he wasn't the only one who noticed Aaron's slight smile while answering Susie's question. "Now, if I didn't know any better," Ernie started and pointed his fork towards Aaron. "I'd say you're thinking of someone special. Are you?"

_Say no. Please say no!_ Arnold prayed inside his head. Aaron could see the obvious growing tension on Arnold's face in the corner of his eye. He smirked a little before answering. "Yes."

Arnold could feel the piece of pancake he'd been in the middle of swallowing getting stuck in his throat. He coughed and started hitting himself on the chest. Aaron, who foresaw this, held a glass of juice out in front of him. Arnold took it and gulped it all down in one go. He sighed with relief and turned reluctantly to Aaron to thank him. He just shrugged as if to say "you're welcome".

Ernie suddenly whistled across the table. "So, who's the lucky lady?" he asked while wriggling his eyebrows. Aaron didn't bother too look in Arnold's direction this time – He _knew_ that his face was filled with anger and jealousy. "Her name's Helga Pataki."

That made Phil jerk his head up from looking at his plate. "Helga? You mean Arnold's little friend with the pigtails and the pink bow, who's not so little anymore?" he asked which earned a smack on his back head from Gertie. "Ow! Pookie, what was that for?" he asked in dismay and turned around to look at her. "Don't talk about Eleanor that way, or I'll whip you for speaking like that!" she answered.

Phil looked confused at the rest of us. "What did I say? She _have_ grown up, haven't she?" he asked, honestly oblivious at how his question could be misunderstood. Arnold himself sat with slightly red cheeks at remembering _exactly_ how much Helga had grown.

Aaron couldn't help himself. He started nudging at Arnold's arm earning his attention. "I know what _you're_ thinking about." He whispered in his ear and winked at him. Arnold's breath caught in his throat. Was he _that_ obvious? Damn hormones!

"Yeah, it's that Helga, grandpa." Aaron answered to move the attention from the awkward topic. Phil gave a pensive look and turned towards Arnold. Believing nobody would notice, he quickly patted his back in a comforting way. Aaron did notice though. _So grandpa knows that Arnold's got a thing for Helga?_ Aaron thought._ Or maybe he's just not as dense as his grandson._

"Well, I don't blame you, Aaron. Helga's become real pretty!" Mr. Hyuhn said with his thick Vietnamese accent. Arnold averted his attention from his grandpa after giving him an appreciative smile. "Become?" Aaron repeated. "What did she look like before?"

"Oh, she was a typical ugly duckling." Ernie answered earning a small laugh from Oskar, which earned him an elbow to his ribs from Susie. "That's not true!" she said but looked a little unsure. "She wasn't exactly pretty, but she wasn't ugly either. More like… she's bloomed over the years."

"She's always been beautiful…" Arnold mumbled under his breath in a stubbornly childish way. He didn't mean for anyone to hear, but they all looked in his direction without him noticing. He was playing with his pancake using his fork in a lazy way.

"Well, no matter how she looked, looks or anything in that area, she's definitely caught my interest. She's a feisty girl." Aaron said looking innocent, but truly just wanted to poke at Arnold. What was his deal anyway? He was in love with Helga, wasn't he? Then why didn't he tell her exactly that instead of just sulking at another guy going after her?

Aaron wasn't even planning on hitting on her, but he could see she was an attractive girl and chances were other boys could too. If his cousin didn't hurry up, someone else might try and take her away. Not that they'd have a chance. Thirteen years of love couldn't just vanish like that.

"Oh, she's feisty alright!" Phil suddenly chimed in and nudged Arnold's arm a little. "Remember on April Fools' Day, Arnold?"

Arnold smirked a little. "How could I possibly forget?" he asked and started to imagine that night again. He didn't get a chance to though, because Aaron cut in. "April Fools' Day? What happened?"

"Well, Short Man here was getting pranked on by Helga all day until he finally snapped! I lent him the ultimate box of pranks, which unfortunately blinded the poor girl. But turns out she tricked him! She wasn't blind at all. It was all just another April Fools'! Oh, that girl sure is something." Phil slapped his knee and started laughing.

"How did you find out, Arnold?" Aaron asked, intrigued. "Well," Arnold started. "my best friend Gerald overheard her talking about her prank with her best friend Phoebe, and then he told me."

"Man, what did you do?"

"Well, before all that, I had invited Helga to the April Fools' Dance, so we were at the school gym. Then I kinda distracted her while Gerald went to open the pool."

"… Let me guess: You pushed her into the pool?"

"Yup."

"And then she pulled him in with her, when she tricked him into pulling her back up!" Phil quickly added and laughed maniacally again. Arnold turned at him in annoyance. "Did you have to add that part, Grandpa?"

"Oh, come on, Short Man, it was hilarious! You, Helga and all the others were soaked from head to toe! I swear, I had a shock when me and Pookie went to pick you two up!"

"Wait, hold on!" Aaron suddenly interrupted. "So, let me get this straight: Helga tricked you into thinking you'd gotten her blind and out of guilt, you invited her to that dance?"

"Uh, yeah, pretty much."

"And… what did you guys do while you were still thinking she was blind? You know, when you were at the dance?"

"Uh… dancing, mostly."

"Dancing?"

"Yeah, dancing. It was really fun actually. That was also how I distracted her from noticing the pool. We did the tango." Arnold explained and took a bite of his pancake again. _Man, girl must have had a stroke at that._ Aaron noted with a smirk. "So… why do you think that Helga did all that? I mean, it's pretty extreme thing to do just for a prank."

"Well, I think she just wanted to punish me for trying to get back at her to begin with." Arnold answered honestly. Aaron looked at him for a few second, before letting his forehead bang into his palm and sighing. "I sorta feel bad for her now…" he mumbled quietly enough for no one to hear.

_No wonder Arnold's never noticed Helga's feelings even through thirteen years!_ _The girl constantly bullies him and tricks him into believing all sorts of crazy things. _Aaron thought._ Plus, the guy is as dense as a brick! A recipe for misunderstandings._

"So, got any other fun stories to tell about Pataki?" Aaron asked with a smile. Arnold was a little surprised at that. Was Aaron honestly interested in Helga? If so, then he didn't exactly wanna indulge his intentions… but then again he never really got a chance to talk about Helga like this. Everyone he knew already knew about Helga and her crazy schemes. In front him sat a boy who might just be interested, because Helga was fun to hear about. She was after all a pretty amazing person…

"Sure, I've got lots. We can talk on the way to school." Arnold answered and looked towards the clock. "Which we should seriously start going to right about now."

* * *

Helga was currently also in the middle of walking to school. But not in an energetic way like Arnold and Aaron. She resembled a zombie. She didn't sleep all through the night. She was far too worried about what this day just might bring, if Aaron decided to pick Arnold up again and then tell her what he wanted from her in the meantime.

She went through every single scenario, she could possibly think of. Doing chores for example. Cleaning for him, doing some homework from his school in New York, anything like that. But if that was the case, then why didn't he just say so to begin with?

Because that couldn't be it, Helga had decided. Then there was illegal things. Like asking her to buy coke for him or steal or something. But he said it himself: Hillwood was a little boring compared to New York. She doubted anyone knew what coke was around here. Besides there wasn't much worth stealing anyway.

Then Helga had thought of one final scenario: The random amusement. Maybe he just wanted her to do random things? Like embarrassing herself in public. Or maybe he'd call her up in the middle of the night, telling her to make him a sandwich. He could ask just about anything of her really.

Even though Helga thought about this all night, she'd finally realized at the crack of dawn: She had absolutely no clue what he wanted from her. And, unfortunately, the only way to find out was to talk with him.

* * *

"No way! So… you guys ended up doing dishes to pay for your meal?" Aaron asked, almost cracking with laughter at Arnold's latest story. "Well, what were we supposed to do? She got the restaurants mixed up, so there was no way we could pay for all that." Arnold answered also laughing.

"But I'm a little confused. I thought you said that she hated your guts? Then why would she invite you to some fancy dinner?" Aaron asked, mostly just to hear Arnold's inevitably dense answer.

"She didn't really. She invited Phoebe, asked her to invite someone she wanted to bring along. She asked Gerald, told him to do the same and that's how I got there."

_Yeah, as if she didn't figure out beforehand that you'd get invited, if she asked her best friend, who probably knows she's in love with you, to ask her crush and then tell him to ask whoever._ Aaron thought and mentally shook his head._ Man, you need to do more brain exercise._

"Oh, speak of the devil." Aaron said when they were close to the school. Arnold's head went to look in his direction and he noticed Helga talking to Phoebe while leaning up against the wall. They seemed to be discussing something serious. Or rather that Phoebe wanted to and Helga kept avoiding it.

"Does she look tired to you?" Arnold asked in worry at seeing the puffy eyes on Helga. Aaron shrugged, knowing exactly what must have been wrong with her. "Beats me." He answered. Arnold frowned at that. _So much for caring about her_. He thought a little satisfied with knowing that.

"No. Seriously, Phoebe. I'm fine. I just feel a little anemic, that's all." Helga answered, looking slightly annoyed. "But, Helga, I really think that if you - "

"Good morning, Helga!" Arnold called cheerfully and waved his arm up in the air. At his voice she perked right up. "Good morning, foot - " but she let her sentence hang in the air, when she noticed who was with him. She started scowling deeply, but tried to shake it off for once.

"Good morning, ladies." Aaron said nonchalantly and glanced more towards Helga than Phoebe. "Ohayou." Phoebe greeted. "That means good morning in Japanese." Helga quickly explained to Aaron for no other reason, than she needed to focus on something else besides his presence.

"Wakaru." He answered and winked at Phoebe. "You know Japanese?" she asked excitedly. "Only a few words." He explained and noticed Helga's deepening scowl, but it was intended for Phoebe this time. "Oh, whoa! That's pretty cool. I didn't know that - "

Helga cleared her throat in a dramatic way, which made Phoebe to turn to her. She saw the angry gleam in her eyes and shut her lips immediately. Helga hadn't told her about why she disliked Aaron as much as she did, but Phoebe was a smart girl: She knew something was up and it was best to just follow Helga for now. At least until she knew the details.

"So, Aaron, what in the world are you doing here?" Helga asked, not seemingly interested. "Are you just gonna sit around and wait for Arnold outside? Hillwood isn't _that_ boring."

"Oh, no, Helga, I'm gonna be a student at your school during this month." Aaron answered and felt quite giddy while waiting for her response. Her eyes bulged out of her head. "You're gonna… study at our school?" she asked in shock. "I'm gonna be in your class." He corrected.

Helga could feel all the blood from her head disappear and her anemia suddenly became a lot worse. She laid her palm against her face and took on a pained expression. "You know what, Pheebs? Maybe you're right. Maybe I _should_ go home. I just got the worst headache all of a sudden."

"Aw, you can't fool me, Helga," Aaron said while going in between her and Arnold. "I know you love me." He put his arm over her shoulders and pulled her close to him in a sideways hug. Both Phoebe and Arnold stared at him, as if he had just put his head into a lioness' mouth. But strangely enough all Helga did was scowl. It was a bad scowl, but nevertheless just a scowl.

Arnold couldn't help but get mad at Helga. _Oh, so it's ok for my cousin to touch you, but whenever I hug you, you push me away?!_ He ranted inside his head, while his hands curled into fists. Little did Arnold know, that the only reason Helga didn't push Aaron away, was because _he_ was right in front of them. She didn't want to risk him getting mad at her for hurting his cousin or something like that. But that didn't change the fact that she felt anger boil inside of her at Aaron's touch.

"Now, Helga, how about you show me around school before classes starts, hmm?" Aaron inquired. Before Helga could even consider answering with a huge 'no!', he was already pulling her towards the entrance. "See you later, Arnold!" he called behind him and went inside with Helga. He laughed on the inside at Arnold's enraged expression.

As soon as Aaron and Helga was inside and most importantly, out of Arnold's eyesight, she took ahold of his arm and twisted it until she could hold it firmly behind his back. He cried in pain. "Ok! Ok! No touching! I get it!"

Helga twisted his arm just a little bit for effect before letting go. "Ow… man, you're stronger than most guys I know." Aaron declared while trying to massage his wrist. "My arm's gone numb!"

"Yeah, and I'll make other more essential parts of your male body go _numb_, if you ever try to touch me again! Especially in front of Arnold!"

Aaron snickered. "I have no doubt in my mind that you will, Helga, I know from Arnold that you can be quite devious, if you want to." He answered, still massaging his arm. Helga frowned. "What do you mean? What the hell did he tell you?"

"Mostly about the schemes you pulled on him when you were children. I especially liked the April Fools' one. Nice going, getting him to take you to the dance by pretending to be blind."

"He… He told you all that?" Helga answered in terror. "Well, I asked him." Aaron explained blandly.

"Why would you do that?!"

"I told you; I needed to find out some stuff, before I decided."

"Oh, right." Helga said as if she had forgotten and crossed her arms. "And what did you come up with to torture me?"

"Well, next on my list is to find out more about _you_ and not just Arnold."

"… Excuse me?" Helga said in disbelief and went a little closer to him to whisper. "You already know my biggest secret. What else _is_ there?!"

"I wanna know your version of those stories Arnold told me. I'm sure your version is slightly different. And you probably have more stories to tell that he doesn't know about." Aaron answered and winked at her. Helga groaned loudly and stepped away from him again. "So you wanna hear all the crazy stalker stories or something?"

"Yes, please."

"And if I don't wanna tell you?" Helga asked, already knowing what he'd do. Aaron lifted his hand to the side of his mouth. "Oh, Arno - " Helga quickly covered his mouth. "I get it!" she said and let go. "Fine, but we need to talk somewhere no one will find us. And I don't want anyone to know I'm even talking to you."

"Oh, Helga, that hurts. Am I really that skeevy?"

"Yes! Now, when do you wanna talk?"

"You tell me. You know this town, not me. Where could we be alone?" Aaron asked with a smug smile while leaning towards Helga. She leaned back a little. "The way you say it makes it sound promiscuous." She observed and wrinkled her nose at the thought. He snickered again and leaned back.

"I'll think of something during class." Helga finally decided and then turned on her heel. "Wait. Where are you going?" Aaron asked.

"To class, doi!"

"And what about me? How am I supposed to find it if you just leave me?" Aaron asked. Helga turned around to face him, but kept on walking. "Follow me, you nimrod!" she yelled back and turned around again.

Aaron stood there for a couple of seconds, before he just started smiling. He then went on full speed after her. "Are you always this sweet to new students?"

"Oh, put a sock in it."

Aaron just kept on walking in Helga's rhythm while shaking his head in amusement and in the meantime thinking to himself. _She's really something._

* * *

When Helga and Aaron reached the class, everyone noticed them almost immediately for two reasons. 1, people always noticed Helga – She was hard to miss. 2, she was with a cute, handsome, almost foreign looking boy who no one knew of just yet. Except Lila and Rhonda.

"… What are you idiots looking at?" Helga asked since no one was saying anything. "Who's… that with you, Helga?" Sheena asked with a small smile. "Huh?" Helga asked and turned around to see Aaron behind her, as if she didn't already know he was there. "Oh, right. Class, this is Aaron. Aaron, this is the class." She said while gesturing to both him and the class.

"Hey, how you doing?" Aaron said with a smirk and waved. Helga rolled her eyes and went to sit down. She slumped back in her seat and took a deep breath. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

Helga managed to block everything around her out for about two minutes, before she heard Arnold's name. She slowly opened her eyes and saw him standing next to Phoebe. They clearly just entered the room recently. Was it just her or was he looking in her direction with a… scowl?

"What?" Helga asked, as she usually did, when she caught him looking at her like that, but this time it was sincere. Usually when he scowled at her, it was well deserved. This time she had no idea why he was mad at her. It seemed like he was about to approach her, when Aaron called him over. He bit his lower lip – almost as if in disappointment – and then turned to walk towards his cousin, in an uncharacteristic way.

Helga just sat there, wide-eyed. _What in the world was that?_ She wondered. "Uh, Helga?" a timid voice said. She looked up to see Phoebe sitting down in front of her. "Hey, Pheebs, what's Arnold's problem? Did you guys talk after Aaron and I left?" Helga asked.

"I guess you could say that…"

"What happened? Is he mad at me?"

"It's… hard to decide. In a way he seemed mad at you, but in a way he also seemed worried."

"What did I do?" Helga asked in defense. "I don't know, but almost as soon as Aaron's arm was over your shoulder, he seemed like he was ready to kill you." Phoebe whispered. Helga stared at her in doubt. "You gotta be kidding me… Why would Arnold be so pissed at something like that? Didn't he say anything to you?"

"Well, I asked him if something was wrong, but… he mumbled mostly to his self."

"Did you hear anything he said?"

"… Something along the lines of 'doesn't deserve'. That was all I could hear." Phoebe answered, preparing herself for however Helga decided to react. "Wait… let me get this straight. Do you think that little Mr. Goody-two-shoes doesn't think that I'm good enough for his cousin or something?"

"I don't think Arnold would think that way about anyone."

"Then what else, Pheebs?"

"Maybe he thinks that _Aaron_ doesn't deserve _you_?" Phoebe suggested with a small smile. Helga rolled her eyes. "Yeah, _right_. As if Arnold thinks that highly of me to be concerned about something like that…"

"Well, _is_ Aaron hitting you?"

"Oh, yuck! No way! He's just… uh…" Helga sighed. "It's hard to explain, Pheebs. Just… Just don't believe whatever comes out of his mouth that is about me, and don't believe whatever comes out of _my_ mouth when he's around, ok? Besides that, forget the whole thing."

"Forgetting!" Phoebe answered in a cheerful voice. Helga smiled at that. She knew she'd probably need an ally eventually, depending on whatever the heck Aaron was planning to do with her. But for now she wanted to keep Phoebe out of it. This guy seemed like he was willing to ask anything of her. She didn't wanna risk him trying to do the same thing to Phoebe, if he found out she knew about their deal.

* * *

The class had welcomed Aaron with open arms. And open legs apparently, because the majority of girls were asking him out. The only two girls who didn't really show him any interest was Phoebe and Helga. Which Arnold smiled in secret about. Unfortunately for both him, Helga and the other girls, it seemed he wasn't interested in anyone besides Helga.

As soon as the class finished, Aaron moved his way over to Helga almost immediately. Arnold, who was sitting right behind, tried very hard to keep his unsatisfied growl barely audible, but Aaron did notice. He put his hand on Helga's chair and leaned in closer than she considered comfortable. Did this guy have no sense of personal space?

"So, Helga, how about you keep that promise to me about showing me around school?" Aaron asked in such a misleading way that they both earned a few glances from both the girls and boys around them. It was fairly obvious that he was hinting at something else. Or so he made it seem.

"Oh, Aaron," Lila suddenly said while standing up. "if you need someone to show you around school, then I'd be ever so happy to do so."

"And so would I. After all, I am the queen of this school. I can show you all the fun places around here, and maybe even grant you a ticket to the _popular_ table." Rhonda chimed in, shoving Lila a bit to the side.

"That's very nice of you girls, but," Aaron answered with a charming smile, while taking ahold of Helga's hand and lifting her up from her seat. "Helga already promised me to do so, and I wouldn't want to disappoint her."

Helga was having an internal fight with herself. Her head kept telling her to stay calm and not hurt this guy. _Arnold is right next to us. Calm down, Helga old girl!_ But every fiber in her being wanted to kick his ass and cut off his hands, so he could never touch her again!

Arnold had a similar battle within himself. He also felt like kicking Aaron's ass for being so… so… _touchy-feely_ with Helga! _His_ Helga! Well, no, not really his Helga… Actually, he didn't even answer Aaron, when he asked if he was interested in Helga, so how would he know that what he was doing with her, was hurting Arnold so badly?

Arnold didn't know that everything Aaron did at this particular moment – and earlier when he pulled Helga inside the school building – was simply to note exactly how jealous Arnold would be. As he had figured out beforehand: Quite a lot. But he admired Arnold's willpower. He obviously wanted to punch him for even just looking at Helga.

"Well, let's go, Helga. We've got a lot to talk about." Aaron said while pulling Helga a little closer to him, so their waistlines were touching and then started to walk out of the classroom with her. Everyone stared at them, until some of the girls went over to Arnold and started whining.

"How does Helga know Aaron?"

"What does he see in her?"

"Why are they walking together?"

"How could she already have him around her little finger like that, Arnold?"

"Are Helga and Aaron dating, Arnold?"

"Arnold?"

"Arnold!"

"Would you guys be quiet?!" Arnold suddenly exclaimed, loudly enough for everyone around him to take a step backwards. Even the boys who could care less about Helga being swept off her feet by Aaron.

Arnold didn't bother to explain himself. He simply grabbed his bag and went outside. He looked around to find Helga and Aaron and noticed them chatting, while still walking so close to each other. He could see Aaron whispering into her ear with a big grin on his face.

Arnold kept watching them until they turned a corner. Then he slumped against the wall behind him and fell to the ground. This could not be happening again. His cousin couldn't possibly start dating the girl he liked again, could he? It was already a million times worse than back with Lila… And they hadn't even started dating yet.

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: Psych! He still hasn't told her what he's got in mind for her xD Oh, I'm such a tease… Anyhow! This is the end of chapter three of "Blackmail toy"! Please do tell me what you think of the story so far, and how you think this will develop. What are Aaron's intentions for example? What are you thinking? I'm really curious to see how people react to his advances towards Helga :D**


	4. Something in the air?

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**To Helga's huge amount of unhappiness, Arnold's cousin Aaron has found out she's in love with him, and she's just waiting to hear how he wants her to pay him for keeping her secret. In the meantime he seems to be having quite a lot of fun with poking at Arnold, to see if he shares Helga's feelings. He's most definitely jealous at Aaron's interest in the blonde girl. And it's hurting Arnold far more than he had ever imagined.**_

**Author's 1st note: Fourth chapter already! O_o Man, I am on a roll! This was a bit harder to write actually. I kept going back on forth between some places for Helga and Aaron to meet up, but eventually I went with… Well, this one ;) Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 4: "Something in the air?"

"Helga, please let go!"

"No way! I told you not to touch me, and yet you did in front of the entire class! Now, what would be the point in threatening you, if I didn't follow through?"

"Helga, let go this instant or I'll tell on you!"

"Why, you little…!" Helga said in deep anger and finally let go. Aaron felt to the ground with a thud and started coughing while holding around his neck. It was sore. "Damn it, you could have killed me!"

"There's no way I'd kill anyone. I know the human's limit to these kind of things. Besides, you were able to talk, so there's no way you couldn't really breathe." Helga quickly dismissed while stretching her arms. One of them felt particularly tender, because it had held the body weight of Aaron up for a good amount of time.

Aaron coughed one last time and stood up. "You're dangerous, you know that?" he asked her, still trying to get a steady breath. "Can't say I didn't warn ya'." She simply reminded him and let her arms fall down to her sides. He smirked a bit and nodded. "Yeah… Yeah, you did. But I didn't think you were actually strong enough to hold me up against the wall with your arm."

"Well, now you know, and what does that mean?"

"That I won't do it again?" Aaron suggested. "Atta boy!" Helga said with a huge grin on her face and smacked his back a little harder than he could handle at the moment. He coughed a little again. "Ok, that's enough, you big crybaby."

"You're cruel, you know that?" Aaron asked with slight amusement in his voice. Helga shrugged. "Hey, that's who I am. That's what makes me special."

"You're special alright." Aaron mumbled and straightened his back. "Ok, you figured out a place where we can speak in privacy?"

"Well, honestly it was a hard decision. First I thought we should just talk here at school in a janitor's closet or something, but if someone busted us there, it would be hard to explain."

"Yeah, that seems right."

"Then I thought of going to my house, because then we could seriously be alone."

"And what's wrong with that?"

"A bunch of things! Firstly, I don't want you to know where I live. God knows how you'd take advantage of that! Secondly, my dad would have a cow if I brought a guy home. You'd be dead as soon as you walked onto the front porch."

"… You're not even joking about that, are you?"

"Nope. Where do you think I got my strength from? Thirdly, I don't wanna risk anyone finding out I took you home with me. That'd be beyond suspicious, and you already made me the target of Lila and Rhonda's teasing, since you pulled me out of the class holding me like that, bucko!" Helga said and slapped the back of his head.

Aaron started rubbing the area, where he could still feel the sting of her slap, with a sigh. "So… where are we gonna go?"

"To the only place, I could think of after crossing both school and my house off the list."

"Yeah? And where's that?"

"Mighty Pete."

* * *

"Hey, Arnold?"

Arnold slowly lifted his head from the table to look up. It was Gerald. He was looking worried at him. "I don't feel like talking, Gerald." Arnold said and put his forehead back on the table again. "I know, since you haven't said anything yourself yet." Gerald answered and took his seat next to him. "But that doesn't change that I worry about you, man. What's eating you?"

"… What's eating me…?" Arnold showed one of his eyes. "What's eating me?!" he repeated and sat straight up. Gerald quickly shot back in his seat at seeing this angry Arnold in front of him. "What's _eating_ me is my cousin! Here he comes, out of nowhere, and accomplishes something within _one stinkin'_ day that I've been trying to accomplish for years!"

"And what, exactly, have you been trying to accomplish?" Gerald asked with shock in his voice, mostly because of this angry outburst. "To win over Hel - " Arnold let his sentence stop there. He shook his head, as if to say that he'd changed his mind about talking about this again and slumped back in his seat.

"You've tried to accomplish… to win over Hell? No, why would you do that, Arnold? You're a pure saint! You've already won compared to Hell." Gerald said, half-jokingly and half-seriously. Arnold gave him a tired look. "Gerald, I really don't - "

Arnold was interrupted by the sound of the door into the classroom opening. At first he was just going to finish his sentence, until he recognized that blonde hair which belonged to Helga. He straightened his back a little to get a better look at her… still with Aaron.

Arnold groaned a little and put his chin back to the table. He still kept an eye on them though. He couldn't hear what they were saying because they were whispering, but it made him raise an eyebrow. While Aaron looked playful, almost as if flirting, Helga looked like someone who wanted him to disappear as quickly as possible. She even just pushed him at his cheek!

Aaron kept laughing while making his way over to his seat, leaving Helga at her own. She slumped back into her chair and sighed heavily. _This is torment enough._ She thought. _There's really gonna be more? If I hear one more innuendo coming out of his mouth, I swear I'll -_

Helga shook her head thought before she could finish that sentence in her head. _I won't do shit, because I can't. If I do anything to him, he's going to tell Arnold everything. I can't touch this guy! Why oh why did I have to monologue at that very moment?! I'm such a basket case!_

Arnold could feel his confusion grow. Why did Helga look so dissatisfied _now_? If she wanted Aaron's interest, then that was definitely a funny way to show it. He looked over at Aaron who was playing with his cell phone.

"… I gotta know." Arnold mumbled and stood up. "Hey, where you going, Arnold?" Gerald asked. Arnold looked over his shoulder. "To talk to my cousin." He answered and walked over to Aaron's table. He sat at one of the tables next to him. "What's up, Arnold?"

"… I'm sorry, Aaron, but I have to ask you something that you might not like."

"If I don't like your question, you won't get an answer."

"I'll try my luck anyways. Are you bothering Helga?" Arnold asked with a piercing tone. Aaron looked at Arnold in feigned shock, but he couldn't see that. "Why would I be bothering her?" he asked.

"Well… it's just that… I mean, look at her." Arnold answered and twisted his head towards Helga, who'd just started writing furiously in a little pink book. "She looks fine to me." Aaron commented.

"She is _not_ fine. Usually when she writes in one of those pink books, she looks happy. Also, she's never done it in the classroom before. She writes in it, when she's at the park with this big happy smile on her face."

Aaron looked at Arnold with huge eyes. "Arnold, are you stalking her or something?" he asked almost in all honesty. Arnold just stared back with a little disgust. "No! I wouldn't do that to her! It's just… well… When you've seen Helga smile like that, then you kinda don't forget, ok? I just noticed her once in the park like that and ever since then, I've caught her writing at that tree a million times. It's all a coincidence."

"What do you mean 'smile like that'?"

"Huh? Oh, well… you've probably already noticed that she doesn't smile a lot. A scowl is usually more her thing."

"Huh," Aaron said thoughtfully and leaned back in his seat. "I guess I have to take your word for it… since the first time _I_ saw her she had a huge smile on her face."

Arnold could feel his heart stop beating. Aaron had seen that kind of smile on Helga? Why?! "Was she writing in one of her pink books, when you saw her?" Arnold asked. Aaron looked at him in slight disappointment. "Arnold, isn't that prying? I don't think Helga would like if you pried into her privacy. I promised her to keep it a secret, so I can't tell you."

Arnold began gritting his teeth. "It's just… I have a hard time believing that Helga would tell _you_ anything, when I have known her since preschool and she won't tell _me_." He explained with a pained look in his eyes.

"Well," Aaron said and leaned forward in a slightly hostile way. "maybe it's that kind of cocky attitude that's stopping her from telling you."

Arnold could feel his heart get stuck in his throat. What cocky attitude? Was he cocky? _Him_? No one had ever called him cocky before! He'd been called a buttinski, geek bat, football head, but never cocky! How was he cocky?!

"Wh-What do you mean?" Arnold asked. Aaron sighed slightly and leaned forward again. "Well, if I had to give you my advice, then it would be better for both you and Helga, if you just - "

At that moment, the rest of the class barged in, almost as a stampede of wildebeest in Central Africa. _What rotten timing_! Arnold thought and turned to Aaron again, but he was already seated back properly. "Aaron, any chance you could give me that advice later?" he asked hopefully. Aaron turned his eyes to look at him and then sighed. "Well, sure, Arnold, but honestly I don't think you can use my advice all that much."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't think I can help you, that's all. You and Helga… it's pretty much a lost cause, don't you think?"

* * *

Arnold barely remembered anything his teacher had said through the former lesson in math. His brain had completely shut down as Aaron's words were going on repeat in his brain. _You and Helga, it's pretty much a lost cause._

Were they a lost cause? True, they had known each other since preschool, but they didn't really know much about each other. They never talked about private stuff, counting out the few brief moments when she'd had a problem with her sister, mother or father and he just happened to be convenient at that moment. But she never actually confided in him. And the more he thought about it, then neither did he.

How could he expect Helga to tell him about her family problems, when he didn't do the same for her? Maybe he had been cocky. Everyone else trusted him completely and always went to him for advice, be it for a big or a small problem. Helga never sought his help. It always seemed just… random.

Maybe because of that, he'd just assumed Helga was the same. But he knew she wasn't. She was more complicated than the rest of his class, and even if she had never told him in details about her family, he knew her problems were bigger than those of their classmates.

He suddenly regretted never talking about his parents to her back when they were missing. Then again he didn't really talk about it to anyone. Except Gerald, but even that had been pretty short-lived. It was just too painful to talk about back then.

That must've been how Helga felt too. It was too agonizing to talk about. So how could he make her trust him enough to talk? Even if he couldn't help, he could at least listen. How could he prove to her that maybe they weren't so different parent wise? She always felt her parents didn't love her, and he'd gone through the first 11 years of his life without any parents. They at least had the need of parents in common.

So how was he supposed to approach her with something like that? He couldn't just walk up to her and randomly asked her, if she wanted to have a heart-to-heart with him about parents. No way, she'd pound him for something like that.

It felt like forever, and yet somehow time had just flown by, when the school bell suddenly rang, telling the students it was time for lunch. Arnold had no appetite whatsoever, but let himself get pulled at the arm by Gerald anyway. Much like him, Helga wasn't very hungry either, but was also pulled into the cafeteria by Phoebe.

"Hey, babe!" Gerald called, when he noticed Phoebe and Helga a little in front of them in the line. Arnold suddenly registered Gerald's words inside his head. _Wait, if he's calling someone 'babe' then that must be Phoebe, and if Phoebe's close by, that would mean…_

"Hi, Gerald." Phoebe answered a little shyly. Helga instantly woke up from her daydream consisting choking Aaron with some of that huge amount of unnecessary wax he used for his hair. _Gerald? If Gerald is close by, then Arnold must be too!_

Helga and Arnold almost simultaneously turned around and caught sight of each other. Their heartbeats started raising at an incredible speed at finally being able to see each other without Aaron nearby. Helga could almost have kissed him out of sheer happiness, and that's also why, she smiled so genuinely at him.

Arnold was sure he was either hallucinating or had finally banged himself unconscious at his desk or something, because Helga was wearing the most gentle smile he'd ever seen on her – Or on anyone else for that matter! He couldn't help that big goofy grin that was now smeared on his face as if by glue.

Helga just felt all giddy inside and tried to hide a giggle behind her hand. She kept on smiling and waved a little at him. That giggle made him pull on a lovesick gaze and he waved back at her with a smooth motion of his hand.

"What do you want, missy?"

The voice of the cafeteria lady asking for Helga's attention, broke the moment they'd currently been absorbed in. Helga sighed and turned to her to answer, much to Arnold's disappointment. But he still had a small smile on his lips. Hey, at least the moment had been there. And Aaron was nowhere in sight, so maybe he could finally ask Helga what was going on.

When all four of them got their lunch, Gerald and Phoebe insisted on sitting together. So naturally their best friends followed them. While Gerald and Phoebe had absolutely no shame in sitting close to each other on their side of the table, Arnold and Helga felt slightly embarrassed at even sitting with normal proximity next to each other. Not that it was unpleasant for any of them, oh no.

Arnold noticed that Helga's eyes were darting around at first though, clearly looking for something or… _someone_. When her eyes finally landed on what she was looking for, he made certain to look in the same direction.

Apparently, Helga had been worried about where Aaron was. He was sitting at another table at the far end of the cafeteria, surrounded by most of the girls in their class. Arnold just stared at him in anger for a couple of more seconds than Helga, and therefore missed the relieved smile she made before digging into her food.

_So, Helga's that unsatisfied with having to eat with me, Gerald and Phoebe, huh?_ Arnold thought in pure anger. _Then why is she even here, when she could just prance over to Aaron and sit with him together with the rest of the girls?! Oh, right! She probably wants him for herself. That's why she's not trying now, since his attention is so divided at the moment. Clever, Helga, nice thinking._

Arnold violently stabbed a fork into a pasta screw on his plate, earning the attention of the rest of the people around the table. Helga was the one mostly worried. He'd seemed on such a rollercoaster ride of emotions this day, and she had no idea what to make of it. She wanted to ask what was wrong, but someone beat her to it.

"You unsatisfied with something, Arnold?" Gerald asked, knowing he wouldn't get a proper answer. Arnold kept looking down at his food, before making a very obvious turn to look at Helga. She stared at him in shock, while he sighed and returned to his food.

_Me?!_ She thought and couldn't help the O shape her mouth formed into. She stared, bug-eyed, at Phoebe and Gerald in front of her, who just shrugged, just as in the dark as she. "If you have a problem with me, Arnoldo, then just say it." She told him, trying to contain her anger.

"I never said I had a problem with you, Helga."

"Oh, no, you just said you're unsatisfied with me." Helga corrected. Arnold threw his fork onto the plate and looked at her as if she was the plague or something. She frowned deeply at him. "What?!"

"What's the deal with you and my cousin?" Arnold asked. Helga went wide-eyed again. "Excuse me?"

"What, are you deaf all of a sudden, Helga? Hard of hearing?"

"What's your problem?!"

"You, Helga! _You_." He answered. "What is it with you and my cousin?"

"_I'm_ your problem? Well, you're mine too! What's with that attitude of yours all of a sudden?"

"Answer my question, Helga."

"Hell no! Not when there's no reason to even ask that question to begin with!" Helga answered while crossing her arms over her chest. "There _is_ a reason!" Arnold answered.

"Then enlighten me, Arnold."

"… Why aren't you eating with him?" Arnold finally asked, reaching the end of his patience. Helga couldn't believe her own ears. So he hated her so much, that he wanted to be rid of her? "Huh!?"

"You heard me! You were just looking for Aaron! If you wanna eat with him, then go right ahead! What's stopping you?"

"Hey! I don't _want_ to eat with him, bucko!"

"Why?!"

"Because I ha - " Helga stopped herself and shook her head. _No, no, no, do not tell Arnold that you hate his cousin!_ She reminded herself._ Don't insult his family, you stupid girl!_ "That's none of your business, Arnold!"

"Why is it none of my business?!"

"What!? Are you kidding me?! So you think that I have to report every single feeling I have inside of me to you, paste for brains?!" Helga asked in pure shock, at the sudden - and honestly totally uncalled for – anger from Arnold.

_So it is true…_ Arnold thought while biting his lower lip. _She really doesn't trust me. She wouldn't confide in me, but she'd confide in my cousin!_ "Well, no! It's not like I'm interested or anything! It's just… why would you rather report to Aaron instead of me?"

"I'm not reporting _anything_ to Aaron! Why are you saying that?"

"You're lying, Helga! I know that you told him _something_!"

"What are you even talking about, football head?! I haven't told him shit! Why would I do that?!"

"Why, is what I wanna know!"

Arnold and Helga was oblivious to the fact that their seemingly increasing quarrel were catching the attention from everyone in the cafeteria. Even the people who didn't know them.

"Listen to me, Arnold, I haven't _confided_ Aaron in anything! Absolutely nothing! Not that it's any of your business!" Helga yelled while leaning a little forward against Arnold, who did the same. "And why is it none of my business?! He's _my_ cousin! You're _my_ friend! I've know you for thirteen years!"

"So what if you've known me for thirteen years?!"

"You'd think that would make you trust me! Even if just a little bit!"

"Well, I _don't_, Arnold!" Helga screamed this time with more hurt than anger in her voice. She was lying right through her teeth, but she just felt so attacked right now. There was no way, she could just tell him that she trusted him more than anyone in the whole world. Her pride wouldn't allow it.

Arnold then shook his head in pure anger. "Fine," he said with such a seething voice that everyone who knew him went immediately bug-eyed. "then I'm done trying." He added and stood up. While doing so, he swept at his food tray at no particular target.

A shriek from Helga made Arnold turn around though. He stared in shock when he saw her covered in his pasta, which had been with meat sauce. She was looking down at herself and couldn't cope at all with the fact that anyone – _especially Arnold_ – had just spilled their food on her. On purpose, she thought.

No one in the entire room could cope with it either. Most people knew Helga Pataki, since she had made her reputation quite well know, and therefore were most people thinking that Arnold either was suicidal or the most idiotic guy on the planet.

Aaron, who had noticed this quarrel a little earlier than everyone else, since he wasn't really all that interested in how big Rhonda's mansion was, was looking on with pure curiosity. He had no idea how this fight had started, but it was clearly about him. Maybe his comment about Arnold being cocky had gotten to him? That was the intention of course, but not really to this level.

Phoebe and Gerald, who had absolutely no idea what to do or how to react to this sudden fight between their best friends, just sat with pure shock across their faces at the sight before them. Arnold having just swept his food onto Helga's clothes and that she was now covered in this red and brown substance.

Arnold was looking at Helga in pure terror. He hadn't meant for the food to land on her! Not at all! He was just angry and wanted to punch something, but the only thing near him had been that stupid food tray! So he just… He just swept at it and he hadn't meant for it to…

Arnold's mind was one big fuzz at this moment. He couldn't see Helga's face right now, since she was looking down at her shirt - which had been white just a minute again, he painfully noted in the back of his mind. Seeing Helga's face or not, he was pretty certain that she was furious at him.

Who wouldn't be?! _He_ was furious at himself! He'd gone way too far! It didn't matter how mad he'd been at Helga a minute ago. It wasn't really her fault. He was just boiling with jealousy and envy at his cousin, but how was she supposed to know that? And he didn't even really have the right to be jealous. Helga wasn't his girlfriend or anything like that, even if he did want her to be.

It didn't matter to Helga right now, that she loved Arnold with all of her heart. He'd just humiliated her in front of the entire crowd around them, whose small 'ooohhh's' had convinced her that they'd seen it all. She was foaming with rage and she wanted revenge.

"H-Helga, I'm…" Arnold started and sat down back at his seat. He was hoping she'd at least look up at him, but she kept staring at her formerly white shirt. "I… I am really sorry. I didn't mean for the food to hit you, and I didn't mean to make you angry. I'm - " He was stopped in the middle of his sentence by Helga, who has lifted her right hand in front of him in a hushing way.

Arnold could see her chest rising and falling slowly, almost as if she was trying to calm herself. In a way he was thankful for that, because an angry Helga was not something anyone wanted to be met with. Even if he _did_ deserve it.

"Don't worry, Arnold." Helga said with such a monotone voice, that Arnold couldn't help but stare at her. A monotone voice could never be good, if it was coming from a girl who was supposed to be angry.

Everyone in the cafeteria were watching with pure excitement as they awaited for whatever Helga was planning. "I don't get angry," Helga said with the same voice while her left hand went to her own food tray. "I get even." She finished before smashing her now tapioca pudding filled hand on Arnold's face.

Everyone in the room started laughing at the sight of Arnold's pudding filled face. Helga smeared it really good on his face, while enjoying her payback. Only Phoebe and Gerald knew for certain that this definitely wasn't the end.

When Helga was satisfied with her job, she wiped her hand on Arnold's shirt before standing up. He just stared at her in pure shock, while she walked away. Ok, so he'd spilled his food on her by accident, and she had smeared pudding all over him on purpose. Now, how was that fair?

Helga didn't get very far, before a yell from Gerald, telling Arnold to 'not do it', made her stop. Before she could turn around and see, whatever tall hair boy was talking about, she felt something cold and wet hit her back.

Helga yelped at the cold chocolate milk that was slowly dripping down form her shirt and onto the floor. _Did Arnold just…_ Helga thought in a mix of being angry and impressed._ Did he just pour chocolate milk on me?!_ A small smile formed on her lips. Despite the obvious humiliation that came with his action, she also couldn't help but feeling a little pride. _Way to go, football head. I knew you had it in you._

Of course, the humiliating feeling won as she whipped her hands, trying to get some of the chocolate milk away from them. She slowly turned around to see Arnold looking at her with a smug smile, still with the empty box in his hands. She smirked a little herself.

Like Helga, Arnold also felt a little proud. It was the first time he'd stood up to Helga like that. Even if he did feel it was a little undeserved at this exact moment, then she had actually done worse things to him through the years, hadn't she? Besides, she was actually smirking a little at him.

With those thoughts, Arnold put the box down next to him and crossed his arms in a challenging way. _Well, Helga._ He thought. _Now what are you gonna do? Probably throw more food at me. Well, bring it on._

"Well, ok then, football head." Helga said as she started walking at a quick pace towards Arnold. "If you want a food fight, then let's have one."

That threat of a food fight never happened. As soon as Helga was getting closer to Arnold, she started slipping at the chocolate milk on the floor. She shrieked loudly, as she started losing her balance. "Helga!" Arnold yelled and went to grab her. She also tried to grab him, mostly because he was the thing closest to her and it was a natural reaction. They did grab each other, although Arnold also lost his balance and they both went crashing to the floor.

A wave of gasps echoed in the room and some started to stand up, to look if the two fighting teens were ok. Gerald and Phoebe were two of them to do that, but when they saw them on the floor, they didn't dare to do anything.

"Ow, ow, ow…" Helga mumbled, feeling the pain in her spine come back. "Ouch…" Arnold mumbled next to her ear and used his hand and his elbow to sit up just a little bit. "Helga, are you alright?"

Helga rolled her eyes dramatically. "Yeah, sure, football head! I'm just freaking - " her rant stopped, when she noticed exactly how close her and Arnold were. It was also almost as if she hadn't felt his weight on her until now. She could feel her own heart beat against his chest, and he could feel the same thing with his own.

"Oh, dear…" Phoebe mumbled behind her hand, knowing full well how much Helga's heart must have been raising at that very moment. Unbeknownst to her and Helga, Arnold's heart was beating almost as rapidly. He was hovering above her with his hands firmly planted next to her shoulders. They were practically nose to nose!

The whole room was quiet for what seemed like an eternity, before some of them started hollering and whistling. It was as if reality dawned on both Helga and Arnold at those noises and they started to try and get away from the awkward position.

To their embarrassment they were both covered in too much food and the chocolate milk around them were quite slippery, so their attempt at gently slipping away from each other was quickly flushed down the toilet. Arnold kept bouncing back onto Helga and even landed with his nose in-between her breasts once, before he could finally stand up.

Helga was laying on the floor for a second while trying to stand up, before she saw a hand in front of her. She looked up to see who it belonged to, though she already knew. Arnold was holding his hand out to her with a timid look on his face. She took it without any doubts and let him raise her up from the floor.

Arnold didn't let go of Helga's hand, as he usually would, and Helga didn't push him away, as she usually would. They just stood there looking at each other, until a small snicker came out of Arnold's mouth. He quickly tried to cover it with a cough, but when Helga snickered a little herself, he really had to struggle not to laugh.

Before anyone knew what was going on, Helga and Arnold were laughing with all their might, still holding each other's hand. Everyone was so confused while they kept watching the odd pair in front of them.

"You look ridiculous, football head!" Helga exclaimed while trying to stop her laughing. "Me? Look who's talking!" Arnold answered, having an equally hard time at trying to stop his laughter. She started to cover her mouth and in a way, it was the cutest thing he'd ever seen; Helga trying to conceal her happy laughter.

She looked up and into his eyes, but then she noticed something missing on the top of his head. "Oh!" she said in surprise and started to look around. "What's wrong?" Arnold asked. She didn't answer, before she found what she was looking for. "There." She mumbled and bend her knees for a second to retrieve a small, blue hat on the floor.

Helga quickly dusted off some pudding on it, before placing it on Arnold's head. Of course pushing it a bit to the side, as she knew he always did. "There." She repeated with a small smile and looked back into his eyes.

Arnold could feel the butterflies in his stomach, as he noted that she had been so very careful with his hat. He couldn't help but reach up to touch it. "Thanks." He said quietly and looked back to her. He was then the one to notice something wrong on her head. He looked a little guilty while reaching out to touch her formerly completely pink bow. "Your bow has brown spots now."

"Oh…" Helga mumbled, not really noticing what he was saying. She was too busy with focusing on the fact that he was touching her bow. _Their_ bow. "There." He was the one to say this time and pulled his hand back. "Now it's pink again."

"… Thanks." Helga mumbled with a small smile. Arnold nodded while smiling the same way as her. They didn't notice, but most of the other students in the room had lost interest and was now back to talking about their own business. The girls around Aaron being some of them.

"What in the world was that all about?" Nadine asked completely baffled. "I'm ever so certain that Arnold and Helga just had another one of their fights." Lila answered in equal shock. "It wasn't just a fight, girls! It was a huge fight!" Rhonda corrected and started gesturing at them. "And look at the way they're looking at each other _now_. Is it just me, or can you feel something in the air?"

The girls continued their discussion about whether Arnold and Helga had a thing for each other, while Aaron's smile only got bigger and bigger. _I see…_ He thought to himself._ Well then, this ought to be the most entertaining trip of my life._

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: That was chapter four, everyone! In case you don't remember what "Mighty Pete" is, then you'll find out in the next chapter ;) It will mostly be dialogue. Aaron and Helga will start talking about the upcoming blackmail :P Well, some of it xD Since he really IS improvising through this. The mature stuff is not too far ahead! But there'll probably be a few more chapters before anything really heavy will happen. I will warn you, when that happens, because it's some heavily sexual things, I'm talking about. Enjoy the innocence there is in this story… for now :P**

**BTW the next couple of chapters may take a little longer to make, since I'm starting a course to learn about trigger points :3 So I don't have the whole day of until Tuesday xD Monday I'm donating blood, so that shouldn't take too long, but rather that I warn you now than later :P**

**To my reviewers: After getting some reviews by now, I thought it would only be fair to answer some of them here. I'm not gonna say who said what, or how many said each thing, but it seems like there's a few who seems to have gotten (to me) the wrong impression of a few things.**

**Statement: "Helga's still such a bully!"**

**This is in a way true, yes, but not completely. As mentioned in chapter 1, Helga has mellowed through the years and she and Arnold are even friends now. She's still got spunk and she's still got quite a mouth on her, but she's not as mean as she used to be. She's not supposed to be at least xD It's not like she's still throwing spit balls at Arnold or even still being childish like that.**

**Statement: "Arnold hasn't done anything to try and get with Helga!"**

**Now, hold on. True, he hasn't told her his feelings just yet. He has no clue she feels the same, and even if she's not his tormentor anymore, she's still a scary girl when angry. Wouldn't most people be afraid to confess to a girl/boy? And especially if this person tends to get angry at small things? And also: This is not shown through this story, but since getting his parents back in San Lorenzo, they DID develop a friendship (as mentioned in chapter 1). So it's not like he's just been waiting for her to come around or anything. He's still trying to get through to her, even while they're still friends.**

**So, these are just some things I wanted to explain properly: Helga's not as bad as she used to be, and Arnold hasn't been as passive as he seems at this moment.**


	5. I know one thing

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**Arnold reached the peak of confusion, when his cousin Aaron and Helga came into the classroom together in two very different moods. Aaron, obviously flirting and teasing, while Helga seemed like she wanted him to go to hell. Not being able to contain himself, Arnold had to ask Aaron what was going on. He didn't want him to bother Helga, if that was what he was doing.**_

_**The conversation ended with Arnold being more confused than ever though, when Aaron suggested that he was being cocky when it came to Helga. That comment, plus the fact that she was looking around for Aaron, when they were eating together in the cafeteria, officially made him snap.**_

_**An angry argument, mixed with a food fight between Helga and Arnold, ended up in a heartwarming moment. And Aaron is now officially sure how to blackmail Helga about her secret.**_

**Author's 1st note: So! A lot of this will be dialogue rather than ACTION! xD Helga and Arnold will have a heart-to-heart moment and then… bam bam BAAAAAM! xD**

* * *

Chapter 5: "I know one thing"

"Look at what you did to me, you stupid football head!" Helga said in a more playful rather than angry tone. "Hey! You're not the one with tapioca pudding on your face and shirt!" Arnold answered with an equally happy manner.

"No, I'm the one with spaghetti, meat sauce and chocolate milk in my hair and on my _white_ shirt!"

"Oh, would you let it go already? That shirt didn't suit you anyway."

"What! How dare you!" Helga said with a feigned insulted voice and threw the washcloth she had just used at him. "Hey!" Arnold said in a small shock and tried to shield himself before it bounced onto his head. She started laughing immediately the sight. He shook his head at her laughing so hard at such a small thing.

Arnold removed the washcloth off his head and threw it back at Helga. She caught it effortlessly and continued scrubbing her shirt with it.

They were standing in the mixed bathroom at the school properties and were trying to get as much food off of them as possible. The food fight ended about ten minutes ago and some teachers gave them detention for messing their table on the floor up so badly. They were also supposed to clean it up, when school was over, and then go to detention.

Helga started biting at her lower lip as she decided to ask the question, that's been bothering her ever since lunch period started. "All jokes aside, Arnold…" she started and quickly gained his attention. "Why are you so mad at me?"

Arnold hadn't expected Helga to ask him so honestly. She was looking at him with a little hurt in her eyes, and it was too much for him to bear. He sighed and threw his washcloth back to the sink. "… I'm not mad at you, Helga."

"Then why did you - "

"What I mean is… I have no right to be angry at you _or_ Aaron, for that matter. I just… Can I be honest with you?" Arnold asked with sincerity in his voice. Helga didn't answer, but just nodded slowly. She also let go of her washcloth.

Arnold took a deep breath before talking. "I know I don't really have the right to be mad at Aaron… or you, but I can't help it. It's just, you two… You confuse me. I mean, you've always confused me Helga, but now I don't know what to think at all… One second Aaron's got his arm around you and you don't even try to push him away, and the next you look at him as if you want to kill him. I just don't know what I'm supposed to think."

Arnold sighed when he had finished his speech and he looked up at Helga. She was looking at him with pure bafflement. She didn't expect Arnold to think so much about whether his cousin was hanging out with her or not. "Well… have you asked Aaron about it?"

Arnold frowned at that question. "Yeah, I asked him yesterday and today, but that just got me more confused. He told me that you told him some secret about you, and I guess that made me… jealous."

"Jealous?" Helga asked in incredulity. "Why would you be jealous at - "

"I don't know!" Arnold lied and threw his arms up in the air in an overly dramatic way. "It's just, well… ok, maybe he's right and I _am_ a little cocky to think that, if anyone should know a secret about you between him and me, then it should be me. But I just - "

"Hey! Hey, hey, hey!" Helga interfered and went to stand in front of Arnold. He looked up at her in confusion. "_What_ did Aaron say to you about being cocky?"

"Oh, uh… I kinda… Well, when you two went into the classroom earlier, then I couldn't help but notice you seemed so angry… and I just felt that, as your friend, I should find out if Aaron was bothering you or something. He told me he wasn't, and then he mentioned that stupid secret he keeps saying you've told him about, and then… I don't know, I just said that I didn't get why you'd tell him a secret and not me. He answered that maybe my cocky attitude was the reason you didn't trust me."

Helga's body started shaking at this revelation. "He called _you_ cocky?" she asked as if she hadn't heard him properly. Arnold nodded his head a little. She started growling in the back of her throat, momentarily forgetting he solemn vow not to show Arnold that she hated Aaron as much as she did. "That… arrogant… son of a bitch!" she mumbled while gritting her teeth and then took a hold of her hair. "How dare he talk about me like that! How dare he lie to you like that! Oh, my god, I could kill him!"

Arnold blinked rapidly while watching Helga pull on her hair in frustration. She suddenly froze and turned slowly to look at him though. She laughed nervously and let her arms fall to her sides again. "Whoo, where did that come from?" she mumbled and waved a hand in front of her face. She then shook her head and took ahold of Arnold's shoulders.

"Listen to me, Arnold… Don't listen to _anything_ Aaron says, if it's about me, got it? And… And don't believe anything _I_ say, when he's around, ok?" Helga asked with sincerity in her eyes. Arnold just nodded slowly. "Well, alright, Helga, if you say so, but… but what is he doing to - "

"No, Arnold, please…" Helga begged and squeezed his shoulders a little. "Just… Please, just… trust me on this… ok?"

Arnold stared at her for a second before nodding again. "Ok, Helga, whatever you say. If you think I shouldn't listen to Aaron, then I won't. And," he said while taking her hands in his own. "I _do_ trust you, Helga. You know that… right?"

Helga could feel a million butterflies swarm around in her stomach at the feel of her hands enveloped in Arnold's. When did his hands become so big and strong? When they were children there hadn't been much difference. Now, it was clear who was the girl and who was the guy. Even if he was still a little shorter than her, and she was still stronger than most girls and even some boys.

"Yeah, I know, Arnold… A-And I trust you too." Helga admitted and looked towards the sink in embarrassment at admitting her lie from earlier. Arnold started smiling. "Really?" he asked. She rolled her eyes and punched his upper arm in a playful way. "Doi! You _are_ the most trustworthy guy in school," she answered and went to sit on the sink behind them. "_and_ we've… known each other since preschool."

Arnold started laughing at her last addition. So, she really did trust him. That was good to know. He felt warm inside, to be honest, just for knowing that. There was still one thing that confused him though. "But, Helga… what _is_ going on with you and Aaron?"

_Oh, brother…_ Helga thought and started biting at her lower lip. _How do I explain this without busting everything?_ "Nothing's going on, football head, I swear. If it looks like he's flirting with me or whatever, then he's just doing it to annoy me or something."

"… But, if that's true… then why haven't you pushed him away yet?" Arnold asked, wondering if he was pushing his luck. Helga just looked at him though. "Haven't pushed him away…? Oh! You mean, when he… oh, don't worry, Arnoldo, that's just because…"

Helga realized what she had been about to say and stopped to think about it instead. She could admit that, couldn't she? It wasn't like she was insulting Arnold in any way at being honest. Besides, it seemed like he was really worried, so if she just let that sentence hanging there, he'd might go back to thinking she didn't trust him.

"Well… Arnold, I guess it's my turn to ask if I can be frank with you?" Helga asked. Arnold tried to contain his smile as he nodded eagerly. "Of course, Helga, you can tell me anything you want." He confirmed which made her smile. _Oh, Arnold, you sweet little thing!_ She thought to herself.

"Want my honest opinion about your cousin?" Helga asked, a little unsure of how he'd react. He nodded slowly, also a little unsure how she would answer her own question. "I… really don't like him." She then answered.

Arnold knew he shouldn't have felt as happy, as he did. He managed to keep his smile away though. "Oh, how come?" he simply asked. Helga shrugged. "He's… been annoying me a lot, really. He's flirting with all the girls in our class, so he's really leading them on, which I hate in both boys and girls, and most importantly…" she answered and crossed her arms. "He's being way too touchy-feely with me!"

Helga decided then to look at Arnold to see his reaction. She didn't know, what she had expected, but it was definitely not that goofy grin. "Football head!" she said in a shocked voice and punched him on the arm. "You shouldn't be this happy, when someone tells you they don't like your cousin!"

"I-I know," Arnold answered and started rubbing that arm Helga has punched. "but I was just so worried. I thought you really liked him or something. As in _liked him_ liked him."

"What!? No way! Are you insane?! He's arrogant, manipulative and he's got no sense of personal space! Plus, he doesn't take me seriously! I swear, I had warned him at least three times and he still held my waist in front of you guys in class today. When we went outside, I picked him up by the throat with my arm and held him there for at least two minutes!"

"Helga!" Arnold exclaimed in shock, but his smile didn't fade. "You did _not_ do that, did you?"

"Oh, I sure did, Arnoldo! You may even see a bit of a bruise around his neck tomorrow." Helga answered proudly. "Helga, you really shouldn't hurt people like that." Arnold answered in all honesty, still with a smile though.

"First of all, I _did_ warn him. Several times. Second of all, he deserved it. Trust me. Third of all, _you're_ the one who is finding all of this very amusing, hair boy. Seriously, do you hate Aaron or something?"

Arnold smiled at Helga's argumentation and started leaning on the sink next to her. "Naw, not really. He's actually a pretty ok guy, now that I think about it."

"… Then why were you so worried about him and me hanging out?" Helga asked, suddenly remembering his odd fascination of her relationship with Aaron.

Arnold seemed like he hadn't expected her to ask that, and he started rubbing his neck nervously. "Well, uh… I just, you know, I, um… I was worried that… if you really did like him, you'd get hurt, you know, because… he's flirting with the rest of the girls, as you mentioned yourself. I was just watching out for you."

Though Arnold of course would do anything in his power to make sure that Helga wouldn't get hurt _ever_, than that particular excuse was… well, an excuse.

"Arnold…" Helga said with wonder in her voice. He had a pink tint to his cheek, while he kept rubbing his neck. She couldn't help but smile fully at the sigh. _Oh, Arnold! My sweet, innocent angel! If I only had the courage to tell you that the reason I don't care of Aaron at all, is because of you!_ Helga sighed dreamily. _I don't think I'd be interested in Aaron even if Arnold didn't exist. He's just as mean as me, really. Though on a totally different way. No, I need someone like Arnold to remind me that I can't be mean all the time. He keeps me steady._

"Well, Arnoldo, in case you've missed the last couple of years, then I'm a big girl now and I've always been capable at protecting myself, so you really didn't have to worry." Helga said in her usual dismissive manner. Arnold just rolled his eyes. He hadn't expected anything else from Helga.

"But…" Helga suddenly added in a small voice. Arnold looked up at her again. "… Thank… for worrying anyways." She continued in a grateful voice and smiled. _She's thanking me… really?_ Arnold thought and smiled broadly. "You're welcome, Helga."

Arnold turned to look at her hand, which was laying just next to his. Did he dare? He lifted his hand a little and put on top of hers. She flinched a little at the sudden contact, but she didn't pull away. She stared at him with reddening cheeks, but then smiled, turned her hand around and intertwined her fingers with his. She felt rather brave at this moment. She could practically fly away on a pink cloud, if she wanted to! But that would mean letting go of his hand, so she decided to stay with him on earth.

Suddenly Arnold seemed to notice something and pulled his hand away from her. He looked away. "Wh-What's wrong?" Helga asked, a little hurt at the sudden change of heart from him. "I… Uh, sorry… I didn't notice until now, but… your shirt…" Arnold explained while feeling his heart try to jump out of his chest.

"My shirt?" Helga repeated in confusion and turned to look over her shoulder at the mirror behind her. She felt her breath get caught in her throat, when she realized why Arnold had seemed so embarrassed a moment ago. Her shirt was completely soaked after she'd tried rubbing the meat sauce and chocolate milk off it. Which meant her white shirt was now see-through.

Helga jumped down from the sink and went to get some toilet paper to dry herself. "Th-Thanks." She mumbled while starting to dry herself.

Arnold just nodded at her muffled appreciation and did his best not to turn around and look at her – Tempting as it was. He just tried to keep a steady breath. He finally opened his eyes to look at nothing particular, but quickly realized that he was in front of the mirror and could clearly see Helga behind him.

Arnold just kept gawking at her. She was rubbing the toilet paper in her hand around her chest and that pink bra beneath just seemed to pop out more and more. He didn't want to look away, but did so when she looked up at him in the mirror. He prayed she hadn't noticed him eyeing at her.

Helga continued to dry her shirt, as if she hadn't noticed Arnold look at her with lust in his eyes. She could feel her hands shaking. _Those eyes… If I didn't know any better…_ Helga thought to herself and could feel her heart pick up its pace, though it should be humanly impossible for it do go any faster really.

Helga started biting at her lower lip when she got an idea. Something she had read in a novel once. She'd always wanted to try something like that herself, but a chance like this didn't come everyday. Did she dare?

Helga decided that it was now or never. It was a perfect way to test Arnold on several levels and besides… she had a valid excuse. Kind of. "Hey, Arnold?" she asked as innocently as she could. He didn't answer, but just mumbled a sound to show he heard her. "I need to take off my shirt for a sec to dry it properly. Is that ok?"

Arnold pretty much resembled the first dog with the copper pence in the story: "The tinderbox", when he heard Helga ask that; His eyes were as big as teacups. "Huh?" was all he could manage to mumble, while he kept staring at the wall, wishing for it to create a rabbit hole for him to jump into, so he didn't have to answer such a question!

"Well, it's just really hard to properly dry it with just paper, so… I… I had hoped I could use that hand dryer… next to you." Helga explained. Arnold turned his head a little and, as Helga has just stated, he truly was right next to that goddamn thing!

"Oh… uh… o-ok. I, uh, wouldn't want you to catch a cold or anything." Arnold answered and started smacking himself repeatedly in his own mind. _Stupid, stupid, stupid! Yeah, that's not creepy sounding at all!_ He scolded himself and moved away from the hand dryer. "G-Go right ahead."

"Thanks." Helga answered and quickly went over to the hand dryer, before she could chicken out. She practically ripped her shirt off and almost pulled out a button in the process. She tried looking at Arnold in the mirror, and she could see enough of him to know, that he was shaking. "Am I making you uncomfortable?"

"Huh?" Arnold stuttered and was about to turn around, but then quickly turned back again, realizing that he was about to look at her in bra and jeans _only_. "Uh, n-no. You just, dr-dry your bra… I-I mean your shirt! Shirt!"

Helga had to really hold back her snicker. She started the hand dryer to cover a small giggle that did escape her mouth. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't quick enough before Arnold heard her. _What in the…? Did Helga just… laugh? Wait a second… She's doing this on purpose, isn't she?! Is this another one of her schemes to torture me?_ He thought to himself. At first, he felt rather annoyed with the fact, that she'd take advantage of him being a boy alone with a girl only wearing a bra. But not long after he started smirking. _Well, fine, then. If you wanna play like that, Helga, then I can do that too._

"Hey, Helga, this hand dryer thing is actually a pretty good idea. Mind if I borrow it too?" Arnold asked. Helga's eyebrows practically went up over her forehead. "Borrow it too? What do you mean, football - " She had been in the middle of turning around, until she saw Arnold starting to pull at his t-shirt. "A-A-A-A-Arnold!"

Arnold just simply held his t-shirt in front of his stomach, while looking at Helga with his most innocent eyes. As luck would have it for him, he was good at that. "What? Am I making you _uncomfortable_, Helga?"

It took Helga a second to realize the obvious change of tone in his voice, when he said the word 'uncomfortable'. She eyed him a little suspiciously. _You're just full of surprises today, aren't you, football head?_ She thought to herself and smirked a little while shrugging. "No, it's fine with me."

And it really was perfectly fine for Helga. Arnold never stopped playing football and he was hence quite fit. _A little too fit._ She noted, trying to hide the obvious blush on her cheeks. "Thanks, Helga." Arnold said and went to stand next to her.

They were both ridiculously focused on drying their garments, both doing their best at not looking at each other. Or at least not get caught while doing it. This little game of 'see-but-not-get-seen-doing-it' went on for about a minute, before Arnold decided to give Helga the victory. After all, he was the one out of the two of them, who wouldn't be able to hide his excitement forever. He already felt a little tight in his jeans.

"I think that's enough." Arnold mumbled and put on his t-shirt. Helga didn't answer, but kept on drying her shirt. She noticed how the stains, she'd tried so hard to get away, still was noticeably there. She sighed a little and held it up to see it better.

While studying the shirt, she didn't notice that Arnold was looking at her. At first to expect an answer to his statement, since he'd figured she would've put on her own shirt too or something, but now he was just looking at her. Helga usually wore baggy clothes. That white shirt of hers was also ridiculously large, though it still did suit her. Seeing her without something big and unfit on her… made him notice how fit she actually was.

Like Arnold, Helga was also still playing the football team. She had and would always be their best quarterback right next to him. Since they had so different ideas for plays, they usually switched who got to decide depending on the other team. While she was more aggressive, he was more sneaky and in that way, they could create deathly plays together. Ever since learning to work together, their team hadn't lost a single game.

_Whoa, the more I think about it, Helga's a really cool girl._ Arnold thought with amusement to himself. _I can't believe she got teased for being such a tomboy when we were children._ Most of the boys had also started warming up to Helga through the years, together with the girls. After getting more composed, Helga really had taken a turn for the better in many ways.

Baggy clothes or not, the boys also seemed to notice her more and more these days. It was after all hard to hide a growing chest. It'd become much more obvious the last time Olga had come to visit. The boys had seen the two girls standing next to each other and noticed that, despite the age difference, Helga was definitely the one more… 'gifted'.

Even if Helga wasn't considered ugly anymore, she also wasn't the center attention of the boys' minds. That place belonged to girls like Lila and Rhonda, and all the other cheerleaders really. Prancing around in mini skirts and tops showing off their uterus', being on the field or not.

Arnold wouldn't know what to do, if Helga suddenly started dressing like that. No way, he definitely couldn't imagine her strutting her stuff in a waving miniskirt leaving less to the imagination and some top barely covering her breasts. Ok, so he could _imagine_ it, but if she came to school one day, he was sure to have a heart attack – For several reasons.

Luckily Arnold didn't have to worry about that from Helga. If she started dressing like Rhonda and Lila, she wouldn't be Helga anymore. She was of course entitled to dress however she pleased, but if he had a word to say in that, then she'd stay the way she was forever. He reminded himself that he really didn't have a word to say in it though.

"What's on your mind, geek bait?" Helga asked out of the blue. Arnold turned to look at her. She was wearing her shirt again. How long had he been in his personal fantasy world? "Oh, uh, nothing really. Just… wanting to apologize again for snapping at you like that."

"Oh, that's ok." Helga answered and punched his upper arm lightly. "I've done worse things to you through the years anyways, haven't it?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I have to stoop to your level."

"Whoa, you're really rebellious today, aren't ya'?" Helga asked with an impressed grin. Arnold just shrugged and went over to stand in front of her again. "Well, you gotta fight the people with power sometimes."

"Oh, ho-ho!" Helga said and laughed. She bend down a little to his level and looked at him in a challenging way. "Well, bring it on, football head! I'm always in for a little competition. Be it food based or not."

"Then I'll make sure to challenge you again." Arnold answered and stepped a little closer to her. Helga had been about make a snide remark, when she noticed how close they were. Arnold seemed to notice at the same time, and they both bend back.

"Well, we better get to class, paste for brains." Helga observed and was about to go for the door. "Uh, wait!" Arnold said and took ahold of one of her hands. She immediately froze at his touch and turned her head around to look at him. "Wh-What?"

Arnold didn't know 'what'. There had just been something inside of him that didn't want Helga to leave just yet. But now he didn't know what to say. "Uh… H-Helga, I, uh… Actually, there's something I've been meaning to tell you…" he said and grabbed her hand a little firmer for support.

_This couldn't possibly be it, could it? Am I about to tell Helga, what I think I am?_

_N-No way… The way he's looking at our hands, his choice of words… Is he going to…?_

"Helga, I… um… I-I just thought you should know that… Uh…" Arnold could feel the word on his tongue, but it kept rolling around into knots in his mouth. Helga gulped and stepped a little back to him. "Y-You can tell me anything, football head." She confirmed for him and gulped again. _I'm most likely getting ahead of myself. Arnold's doubtlessly just worried about something else, or wants me to know I'm an ok friend or something._

Arnold felt a little braver after Helga telling him his own words, so he straightened his back. _Ok, you can do this. You've imagined telling Helga in how many ways exactly? Oh, god! How am I supposed to say this anyways?!_ Arnold started to panic in his own head and his eyes darted around the room.

"Helga… I…" Arnold started and then took a deep breath. "I just want you to know that I am in - "

The sound of a soft knock muffled Arnold's words and Helga immediately felt the urge to kill. She turned around to see who had now stepped into the room and felt the urge to kill get stronger. Aaron was standing in front of them, looking a little confused. Undoubtedly because they were standing so close while holding each other's hand.

"Uh… Excuse me. I was never here. Please continue." Aaron said and closed the door softly behind him after stepping out. Problem was he _had_ been there, and Arnold wasn't sure if he still had the guts to say anything.

He sighed deeply and let go of Helga's hand, much to her disappointment. She could, in all severity, walk outside and officially introduce Aaron to both her fists. She didn't know what Arnold had been about to say, but it had obviously been important and now he didn't seem to plan to continue. Maybe a push would make him want to say it again?

"What did you want to say, A-Arnold?" Helga asked with a little shyness to her voice. Arnold looked up into her eyes and then shook his head a little. "I'll tell you some other time, ok? Aaron seems like he wants to speak with you, so I'll just… I'll just dry up a little more in here, ok?"

Helga nodded in understanding, though she felt more like shaking her head ferociously and grab his shoulders, demanding him to tell her whatever he had been about to. "I'll see you later, hair boy." She said and went to grab the door. "Yeah, see you later." He answered before she went outside with a small smile on her lips.

Arnold knocked his head backwards into the wall behind him and went to sit on the floor. _Well, that was just perfect timing on my cousin's part._ He thought to himself and started to scratch his head. _At least now I know one thing… I do have the guts to tell Helga my feelings… someday._

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: So! A dialogue-based chapter. Was it awful to have to imagine their voices to this extend? xD**

**I got a small concern from a guest reviewed who is very interested in reading this story, but wanted to confirm what I had said in the beginning, so I'm gonna do the same for the rest of you: There will be absolutely NO rape, NO trauma of any kind, and Helga (nor any other characters) will get physically or emotionally hurt. (When I say emotionally hurt, then again: I'm talking about trauma.) Sure, Helga is being blackmailed into doing some things in the future (kinky things so to speak) and even if she'll be mad, she won't be hurt by it. I swear that.**

**And when I finally reach the chapter for the first questioningly kinky thing, then I'll write what it is in the author's 2nd note. Why second note? Because if you're sure you can handle whatever I'll dish out, then I don't want to spoil it to you, so when I write in the author's 1 note in the future: "Spoiler warning down below", that will mean it will say EXACTLY what is going to happen, so that you can decide if it's too much for you to handle. Don't worry, I'm not out trying to emotionally disturb you forever.**


	6. Maybe I am a jinx

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_After their fight in the cafeteria, Helga and Arnold went to clean up in the school's toilets. While doing that, they got to talk about the recent events and the air was cleared between them. Besides a small embarrassing moment including a wet shirt and an attempt at teasing each other, Arnold was also just about to confess his feelings to Helga, when no one else but his own cousin interrupted._

_Despite Aaron's effort at just backing away, the damage had already been done and the moment was ruined. But at least Arnold now knew that he was ready to tell Helga his feelings… Eventually._

**Author's 1st note: So, we're getting closer to Aaron's first "blackmail mission" to Helga. Without spoiling it too much, the first one will mainly just piss her off rather than anything else. I would like to hear, if you have made any thoughts about what you think Aaron will ask of Helga during this? He won't ask her just one thing, it will be a few things here and there ;) Well "few" xD**

* * *

Chapter 6: "Maybe I _am_ a jinx"

As soon as Helga was outside, she smacked her palm flat against her face. It gave a loud sound through the empty hallway. "… Ow…" she mumbled against her hand and let it slide down and fall to her hip.

"So, I suppose that means I interrupted something?"

"You bet your sweet ass, you did!" Helga answered and looked towards Aaron, who was just standing next to her with his hands down his pockets. "So, you think my ass is sweet?" he asked with a smug smile.

Helga would usually have bitch slapped a guy for asking her something like that, but she was too disappointed to even care. "What do you want, bucko?" she asked and started walking past him. Aaron walked a few steps behind her. "Whoa, just 'bucko'? Was it that bad?"

"… More like that _good_…" Helga mumbled under her breath and sighed. Since her back was turned to Aaron, she couldn't see him making a just as uncomfortable facial expression as hers. "Sorry about that. I just wanted to know what the plan is?"

Helga stopped and turned around. "Plan?"

"Yeah. We were gonna meet up at 'Mighty Pete' as you called… whatever that place is, but I figured that today would be a no-go because of your detention?"

"Oh… yeah, that's… Wait, you're giving me a choice?" Helga asked in surprise. Aaron rolled his eyes. "Helga, dear, we have a whole month. Trust me, I'll make the best of it even if I miss a day or two."

Helga cringed at Aaron's reminder of him being able to torture her for a _whole month_. She sighed heavily and started scratching her head. "So, when do you have time to meet up?"

"I have all the time in the world, I don't exactly have any plans."

"Perfect! How about next year?" Helga asked with a big, dopey grin. Aaron smirked at her and shook his head. "Within this month, Helga."

Helga sighed yet again, not noticing who had emerged into the hallway. "Tomorrow is Saturday… Can we at least do this next week?" she asked. Aaron, who also didn't notice that they weren't alone anymore, crossed his arms and gave a pensive look. "I guess I don't mind that… Gives me more time to think of ways to _torture you_ anyways."

"… I'm gonna regret requesting that, aren't I?"

"Well, it's too late to take it back now."

"Ugh, fine… We'll go to Mighty Pete together at Monday after school."

"It's a date then."

"It's not a date!" Helga immediately yelled. Aaron blinked at her outburst, while she turned around to walk away. He heard a snicker behind him and turned around. "Got rejected, Aaron?" Arnold asked with a small smirk. He hadn't meant to laugh at him, but Helga's way of handling things was just so… well, typical Helga.

Aaron just smirked back. "Rejected? Oh, not quite." He answered and turned his head around to Helga again, who was still just strolling down the hallway. He lifted his hand to his mouth to yell. "So, we're going out Monday, right?"

Helga lifted her arm and waved in a dismissive, yet affirmative way. "Yeah, yeah, whatever floats your boat!" she answered and turned around the corner. Aaron smirked again and spun to look back at Arnold, who seemed a little baffled. "See? We _are_ meeting up outside school. Now, how is that being rejected?"

Arnold felt like frowning at Aaron and was just about to, when Aaron started walking in the same direction of Helga. "We should go to class, right?" he asked, but didn't wait for an answer. Arnold just kept standing there with his own thoughts.

_Helga didn't… lie to me, did she? She is meeting up with him after school Monday. Why? To do what? What if Helga -_ Arnold immediately shook his head._ No! Stop it, Arnold! Helga told you not to believe Aaron or her when they are talking about each other, so that's what you're gonna do! Besides, she didn't exactly seem excited for whatever they're going to do._

He started running to catch up with Aaron. _But what's going on, Helga? Is Aaron really forcing you to do this? And why are you just putting up with it? I hope you're not in trouble…_

* * *

"Not in trouble, my ass…" Arnold mumbled to himself, when he went through his earlier thoughts. He was standing with a mop in his hands and was currently swiping the cafeteria floor beneath him. _We're both in trouble._ He thought with a sigh. _Cleaning this place and then detention. Just because I had to get jealous. Am I really such a controlling guy? It wasn't nearly this bad with Lila… Then again, Helga isn't Lila._

Arnold started smirking. Oh, yes, Helga _definitely_ wasn't Lila. Not only were they practically opposites, his former feelings for Lila also couldn't compare to his feelings for Helga. While Lila was in a way a female version of himself when it came to manners, kindness and interests, then Helga was more… his yin to his yang.

They brought out the best and the worst in each other, but most importantly, he felt like he didn't have to hold back around her. He could get as pissed as he could, and she would still forgive him later, because she would have been just as mad. He didn't have to be a saint around her all the time, and she didn't have to put up a front around him.

Arnold truly believed that Helga was mostly honest with him. And she really was. When no one else was around, her walls shattered almost completely and that was when he loved her the most. When she was 100 % herself.

Arnold knew her bad mouth, her nicknames and her rude comments also were Helga being herself. She was the best of both worlds. She didn't take lip from anyone, but she could also sweet talk her way out of pretty much anything. She was manipulative and cunning, but also feminine and romantic. Not that he'd ever seen her more romantic side, but there was no way that any of those pink books were filled with hateful words.

"Hey, football head! Heads up!"

"Huh?" Arnold mumbled and turned his head around only to be met with a rag to his face. He gasped a little in surprise and started removing it. "Stop daydreaming and help me out here! This is mostly your fault to begin with!" Helga yelled at him and continued mopping the floor.

"Sorry, Helga." Arnold said and put the rag onto the table. He didn't even know where she'd gotten that from. All they had were mops and buckets filled with warm water and soap in them.

Arnold did start mopping, but couldn't help but sneak a peak at Helga from time to time. She switched between mopping furiously to moving her head in some sort of beat in her own head. She seemed to be mumbling some words too.

Arnold couldn't contain his curiosity anymore. "Got a song on your brain?" he asked. Helga almost dropped the mop in her hands in pure shock at being talked to all of a sudden. "Jesus, Arnold, don't do that!" she answered and held a hand to her heart. The image of her pink bra beneath it immediately came to Arnold's mind, but he shook it off as fast as he could. "Sorry… So? Am I right?"

"Oh, uh… yeah, you caught me. I do sorta have a song on my mind."

"Care to share?"

"I don't think you know it, football head."

"Then sing it to me."

"What!?" Helga shrieked and turned to look at Arnold who just smiled innocently at her. He shrugged. "Why not?" he asked. "Well… I'm not exactly much of a singer, Arnoldo." She answered and started resting her chin on the top of her mop.

"Don't lie to me, Helga, we performed together with the rest of the class at the Spring Concert. I _know_ you can sing."

"Uh… f-fine then. I have it stuck on my brain like gum under my shoe anyways. Maybe it can help me get it out or something…" Helga mumbled and sneaked a glance towards Arnold. He just smiled expectantly. He frowned immediately though, as soon as Helga sang the first line.

"_I hate the world today… You're so good to me, I know, but I can't change… Tried to tell you, but you look at me like maybe I'm an angel underneath… Innocent and sweet._"

Arnold forgot everything about the floor and just kept staring at Helga, as she started to mop the floor, matching the beat of the song. "_Yesterday, I cried. You must have been relieved to see the softer side. I can understand how you'd be so confused. I don't envy you. I'm a little bit of everything. All rolled into one._"

And then Arnold actually did recognize the song. 'Bitch' by Meredith Brooks. Why had he never thought of Helga while listening to that before?

"_I'm a bitch, I'm a lover. I'm a child, I'm a mother. I'm a sinner, I'm a saint. I do not feel ashamed. I'm your Hell, I'm your dream. I'm nothing in-between. You know you wouldn't want it any other way._" Helga finished singing at that and turned to look at Arnold questioningly. "So, you know it?"

Arnold just kept gawking at Helga at maybe for a few seconds to long. On the outside she'd seemed perfectly calm through the whole thing, but her head was screaming that it was getting too close and personal! After all, she couldn't help resembling herself to that song, so it felt rather personal to have Arnold hear her sing it.

Arnold seemed to get out of his own little world though, and then immediately nodded his head. That left Helga stunned. "R-Really? You know Meredith Brooks?"

"Sure, I know Meredith Brooks, Helga. Or, rather, I know that particular song."

"Yeah, me too. I have no clue what other songs that woman's made."

"… I really like it. In a way it's very… _you_." Arnold observed quietly. Helga felt a major warmth go through her. She wasn't sure why, but her heart seemed to have picked up it's beat. "O-Oh? And why is that, f-football head? Because the title of the song is 'bitch'?"

"What? No! M-More like… you have so many different sides to you, Helga, so… yeah, l-like that." Arnold explained after realizing his bad choice of words. Helga felt like fanning herself. So Arnold _did_ know there was more to her? _Good to know. Good to know._ Helga thought in a fake, calming way. _Steady, old girl…_

Helga thought her heart had finally settled down, when she heard Arnold hum the song a bit. She watched him for a second before humming herself. They were in perfect synch, when Arnold couldn't help but mumble the next words. "_Rest assured that when you start to make me nervous, and you're going to extremes._"

Helga cocked an eyebrow. _He's reversing the words, as if he's speaking to me…_ She thought and gulped a little before singing herself. "_Tomorrow I will change_ - "

"_And today won't mean a thing_!" Helga and Arnold sang together and started smiling broadly. With that song on their lips and in their voices, they kept cleaning the floor. They even swung their mops a little to the beat, and Arnold had never thought he would be envious of a mop.

"_Just when you think, you've got me figured out,_" Helga sang and swung her hips a little. "_the season's already changing._"

"_I think it's cool. You do what you do._" Arnold sang and swayed his hips in the same way in front of her. "_And don't try to change me!_" Helga finished the verse and lifted the mop above her head to twirl.

The two teens laughed wholeheartedly and started swing their mops a little wildly. "_I'm a bitch, I'm a tease. I'm a goddess on my knees!_" Helga started forgetting that she was supposed to hold back around other people. Especially _Arnold_! She could feel herself losing control as she always did in her room, when she listened to songs she loved.

Helga let go of her mop and bend one knee after the other, until she was sitting on the ground, matching her sung words perfectly. Arnold was surprised for about one second, but just like Helga, he was also slowly letting his guard down. If he could be crazy with anyone, then it should be Helga, right?

"_When you're hurt, when you suffer, I'm your angel undercover_!" Arnold sang and held his hand out to Helga, who started singing with him. "_I've been numb, I've revived. Can't say I'm not alive._" She took his hand and let him lift her up. "_You know, I wouldn't want it any other way_!"

Arnold couldn't help himself. He'd gotten so much into this little dance and singing routine they'd gotten into, that he started holding Helga in a typical dance position and started swaying with her to the inaudible beat in their heads.

Arnold and Helga started laughing hysterically. The whole thing seemed so ridiculous. Dancing to mute music in the middle of a cafeteria, when they were supposed to clean the floor. Helga even started laughing so much, that her forehead landed on Arnold's shoulder. She tried to stifle her laughter, but hearing him laugh, just made her laugh even more.

"What are we _doing_?!" Helga asked in incredulity. "I-I don't know!" Arnold asked, equally with a chuckling voice. She removed her forehead from his shoulder and straightened up to look at him. They both panted a little at their spontaneous dance.

Helga giggled a bit and then gently smacked the back of Arnold's head. "You're crazy." She observed and went over to take her mop. "Look who's talking!" He answered and bend down to take his own. "You _make_ me crazy, Arnold." She answered honestly and pulled her mop up in an upright position.

"Oh, you hate me that much?" Arnold asked with a fake pout. Helga shook her head in amusement. "Nope, not a bit." She answered with a smile. Her honest response surprised him a bit, but mostly he just broke out into a lovesick grin. "Thank you. You too."

"Me too?"

"I don't hate you either."

"Anymore, you mean?"

"I never hated you, Helga."

"Why in the world not? I gave you every reason to!"

"Naw, you're not as bad, as you seem to think." Arnold answered and continued mopping the floor. Helga kept going back and forth between making a sarcastic remark… and blushing heavily. She ended up doing a mix of both. "Y-You're just saying that, because you're too much of a goody-two-shoes to ever really hate anyone."

Arnold shook his head with a smile on his lips and straightened up to look at Helga again. He noticed the faint tint on her cheeks and smiled even more. "No, Helga. I'm serious. Sure, you could be a pain, but you've also helped me even more than anyone I've ever known."

"How have I ever helped you, geek bait?"

"Did you miss the entire half year we were in San Lorenzo?" Arnold asked with a cocked eyebrow. Helga pulled her lips into her mouth at that reminder. "Well… so one good deed makes up for a bunch of bad ones?"

"That wasn't your only good deed in your whole life, Helga. Even if it was probably one of the bigger ones."

"You…" Helga started a little startled. Arnold turned to look at her again, and she coughed a little to clear her throat. "Y-You know of any other _good deeds_ of mine?"

Helga could think of very few good deeds in her life. Mostly all of them was about Arnold one way or another. Most of them were supposed to be secret though, so she wasn't entirely sure how she wanted him to answer her. He didn't say anything though. He just smirked, winked flirtatiously at her and went to grab his bucket.

Helga felt her chest pop at that _look_ Arnold had given her while winking. She'd seen those eyes once before. At a very sensual tango, despite being only 10 years old at the time. She felt her hot breath tickling her lips, and she tried desperately to throw away all her thoughts while containing herself.

"Dark Arnold" as Helga had named Arnold when he didn't behave as his usual innocent self, was someone who hunted her dreams in more ways than one. While she loved him for being her polar opposite and be as good as they got, she also felt a sort of tingling sensation at seeing him with a different side. A _bad_ side. Maybe someone a little naughty even…

"Helga, are you alright?"

Helga yelped a little and felt her chest pop again. She automatically let go of her mop and it went to the floor with a thud. She straightened her back and did her best to look Arnold in the eyes. She quickly changed her mind though and started to look at the ground instead. "Huh? Wh-Why shouldn't I be?"

"Because your face is all red. Did you catch a fever while walking around in the wet clothes?" Arnold asked and walked closer to her. Before Helga could react, he put his hand to her forehead to feel for a fever. _Typical!_ Helga screamed in her head. _"Dark Arnold" comes out and then "Good Arnold" doesn't realize anything!_

"Hmm, my own hands are a little clammy, so I'm not sure if you do have fever." Arnold observed and let go of Helga's forehead. "Well, t-too bad then, I guess. L-Let's just get back to work." She practically begged.

Arnold didn't do as Helga requested though. Instead, he let his mop rest against the table behind her, and let his forehead gently hit hers. "What are you doing?!" she shrieked but didn't move an inch. "Comparing our body temperatures." He explained and let his forehead touch hers a little more.

Helga closed her eyelids tight, as her heart went straight to her throat. _How can he be this dense?!_ She thought angrily, but also gratefully. Arnold opened his eyes, about to say that she really did seem really hot, when he noticed her closed eyes. His own eyes went a little half lidded at the sight.

Arnold gulped a bit and let his lips get a little closer to hers. _I really shouldn't… I told her, I'd just check if she had a fever. She seems really… warm… but is that because of a fever? Maybe she's warm because… of the same reason as me? Just maybe…_

Arnold's lips had been just about to touch Helga's, when the sound of a door hitting the wall, made him jump away from her in fright. "Just checking if you kids are actually doing your job." The janitor explained and started looking around. "Very decent! Now, grab the mops and the buckets and bring them to the janitor's closet. You're going straight to detention after this." And with those words the janitor walked out of the cafeteria again.

Arnold could have sunk down to his knees in despair. How could he be this unlucky?! That was twice in one day! Was everyone against him or something? Did he do some horrible thing in a past life that he was paying for now?

Helga, who had been so into her own beating heart, hadn't even noticed Arnold's attempt at kissing her. "Are you ok, paste for brains?" she asked a little worried. He seemed like he could've strangled the janitor or something. He turned to her and forced a smile. "Y-Yeah. You, uh, seem a little warm, but I don't think you have a fever."

"Oh, ok then. Uh, thanks. Well, let's head straight to jail." Helga announced and went to take ahold of her bucket and her mop. Arnold nodded and took his own again. _Ok, so that was a major fail. I try telling her my feelings in the bathroom, I try kiss her in the cafeteria… Maybe I can ask her out in detention? Depending on what teacher is there to watch us._

* * *

To Arnold's luck, the teacher who were supposed to watch them was Mrs. Smith. She usually just minded her own business and didn't really give a damn what the students did during detention. As long as they weren't loud enough to disturb her. She would just sit and read her magazines and listen to Beatles music. It was a perfect chance to talk a little more to Helga.

Arnold didn't know about Mrs. Smith, because he had detention before or anything. But rumors did fly around in a high school after all, and Mrs. Smith was a favorite teacher of many people, because of her lack of caring. She believed that if a person wished to learn from their mistakes, then they would learn. If not, then tough luck. It wasn't her problem.

Arnold would never have thought that he'd be thankful for that kind of mindset. Before this day, he thought Mrs. Smith deserved to get fired. She was supposed to teach everybody, even if they were too dumb to appreciate it. Wasn't that what a teacher was supposed to do? You know, _teach_?

Nevertheless, this was Arnold's chance to get Helga warmed up to the idea of him asking her out. Even if he didn't get to do it now, then maybe the idea would roam in her head and then the chance of her saying yes at that point be bigger.

Helga was currently sitting at a table at the other end of the room. She was scribbling in her pink book with a dazed look on her face. Her heart was still beating rapidly at remember Arnold being so very close to her. If only she would've had the courage to pull a little closer, then they would have kissed! She could always have just have blamed it on being dizzy, since he thought she had a fever or something anyway.

Arnold started pulling at his own notebook from down in his bag. He dragged it up in one swish and opened it. When he tore a page out of it, Helga glanced to him. _What is he doing?_ She thought to herself and kept watching him.

Arnold pulled out a pencil from his pencil case and started writing at the torn paper, as if his life depended on it. Helga started frowning at the odd behavior. A sudden struck of inspiration? When his eyes darted away from the paper and towards her, she hastily averted her eyes and looked down at her own notebook.

Arnold took a deep breath and started folding the paper into a small airplane. When he was done, he looked to Mrs. Smith to make sure she was as engaged in her magazine as always. She was. He took the paper airplane into his hand and focused hard to throw it towards Helga.

She was doing her very best to focus at her current poem in her notebook, but she kept wondering what in the world Arnold was writing. When she was just about to let her curiosity win, she felt something poke her hand. "Ow!" she gasped softly and started rubbing the area.

Helga looked up towards whatever had stung her and noticed a small paper airplane. She frowned and looked up towards Arnold. He was just writing in his notebook, as if it wasn't obvious the paper plane was from him.

Helga started smiling while holding down a snicker and took the airplane in her hand. She folded it out as silently as she could and started reading it: **Hey, Helga. I was just wondering you **_**really**_** don't have a fever? You seemed rather flushed earlier. Arnold.**

Helga rolled her eyes dramatically. _Dense moron._ She thought and was about to tear out a page from her own notebook. She changed her mind though and went to grab a school related notebook instead in her bag. No way, was she doing any harm to one of her pink notebooks!

Helga tore out a page of the other notebook and started scribbling. When done, she folded it into a paper plane as well and readjusted herself in her seat. She angled it the best she could – it was easy, given she'd thrown spitballs at Arnold her entire life – and let it soar across the room to him.

The tip of the paper airplane landed perfectly in Arnold's big hair. Helga had to hold her mouth with both of her hands to not laugh at his confused expression. He let his hand grab the foreign object in his big tuffs of hair and pulled it down to his eyelevel.

When Arnold realized it was a reply from Helga, he could care less about the embarrassing way of receiving it. He turned to look at her and felt the embarrassment come rolling back, when he saw her bend over, holding her stomach and her mouth, concealing her laughter.

_Ok, I can imagine that looked funny, so I'll forgive you._ Arnold thought and started to open the paper plane. _I always do._

**You are such a worrywart, Arnoldo! Yes, I'm just fine. No, I don't have a fever. What's it to you?**

Arnold started biting at his lower lip as he pondered his next words. He wanted to warm the atmosphere up before asking the big question, so he decided to still play a little vague with his intentions.

When Helga got the next paper plane, she was ready for it. She caught it without much effort and hurriedly read it through: **Besides worrying about you? I guess nothing, really. Except, if you really **_**were**_** sick, then I'd probably do something for you, because I'd feel bad. Since it would be my fault.**

_This seems oddly familiar…_ Helga thought and tore out a page from her own notebook. _The typical good Samaritan, huh? This is April Fools' all over again. Except this time, I didn't even have to trick him into anything._

She folded it neatly into another airplane and threw it towards Arnold. He caught it too this time and she gave a small clap. He snickered a bit and opened it to read it: **You know what? Maybe I **_**do**_** feel a little sick, Arnold. After all, it would be the least you could do after throwing spaghetti and chocolate milk at me. So, what did you have in mind?**

_Ok, this is it._ Arnold thought to himself with a gulp. He tore out yet another page from his notebook and scribbled a little more slowly this time. He wanted to word this right. Even if he did use the whole food fight as an excuse, then it would still be him and Helga out together. On a date.

When Arnold was done, he gave a satisfied nod and began folding it. He took it into his hand and lifted his arm up to throw it. When he saw that Helga was ready to catch, he threw it. It flew through the room for about three seconds, before it was grabbed by a wrinkled hand.

"Stop throwing paper planes, you two! I accepted the first few, but now it's getting ridiculous." Mrs. Smith said and threw the paper plane into the trashcan. As Arnold watched it fall in with the rest of the garbage, his fists started clenching on the table. A conversation he once has with a boy named Eugene went through his mind. The boy had been convinced that Arnold was a jinx, even if everyone else believed Eugene himself was the jinx.

Arnold bumped his elbow up to the table and placed his chin in his palm. "… Maybe I _am_ a jinx…" he mumbled to himself and sighed loudly.

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: I'm sorry that I keep… well… not tell how the blackmail is gonna go! xD And I'm being so mean to Arnold… I just want to also show how Arnold and Helga's relationship is developing, with or without Aaron's interference. I think that's just as important, since our main theme of the story is them after all ;)**

**Anyways, I keep believing the next chapter will be the one to unravel the first "blackmail", so I'm not gonna say it will be the next one this time, because I'm really not sure xD I have several scenarios written down there's gonna go on in this story, but I'm still writing this as I go. The Meredith Brooks thing? TOTALLY spontaneous xD I just sorta thought a song would fit this moment and before I knew it, Helga and Arnold were goofing off together :D**

**If you wanna hear Meredith Brooks' 'Bitch' then here it is: watch?v=6ge53QaDpKQ**

**I really do think that this song fits Helga quite a lot. She really is a bunch of things mixed together. Besides that, then I've always also associated this song with myself, since people have continuously told me that they can't always figure me out. I love theatre, hate ballet. I love the color red, I don't care for flowers. I love dancing, hate romantic comedies. I adore cartoons, but don't like children. I burp when I eat and drink, and I want a big fairytale wedding.**

**You see how people can get confused by me? xD**


	7. What about an invitation?

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_Since Helga and Arnold were supposed to have detention together, her talk with Aaron would have to wait until Monday. Much to her relief and regret, since that would give him more time to figure out ways to blackmail her._

_Arnold and Helga were also forced to clean up the cafeteria after school before detention and had yet another very heartwarming moment, which almost resulted in a kiss between them. Unfortunately for Arnold, the janitor came to interrupt them and Helga didn't even realize, what he was trying to do._

_His third attempt at getting closer to Helga was literally thrown into the trash during detention by the teacher, when he was about to ask her out through a paper airplane. He decided right then, that maybe indeed he was a jinx._

**Author's 1st note: I don't know what to say, except… There's a bit more time jump in this one. Also, there'll be a bit more time jumping in future chapters too. Come on, we're talking a whole month here. We shouldn't have to dig through a bunch of exposition, right? xD**

* * *

Chapter 7: "What about an invitation?"

Helga looked forward to her weekend of peace. She always did. It was those two days a week, when she could charge up for the next week and get some homework done. This time, she was particularly excited for it, because it would mean no Aaron and no threats of blackmail.

She spent her weekend as she usually did: Sleeping, eating and writing. To anyone else, such a weekend probably sounded dull, but to Helga it was the perfect way to relax and prepare herself: To a life in Hell with Aaron as the devil.

For once, the weekend seemed to have just flown by in front of her eyes and then it was Monday. She usually hated Mondays, but this Monday in particular was not welcome. She even tried to stall herself as much as possible, before having to go to school.

"Procrastination at its best." Helga mumbled to herself and sighed. "Good morning, Helga." Phoebe greeted from behind her. Helga frowned deeply and turned to look at her over her shoulder. "What's good about it?"

"Well, were alive, we're in good health, we - "

"Ok, ok! Dump the mocking optimism. Sheesh, I should never have taught you about sarcasm." Helga interrupted with a small smile, knowing very well that Phoebe was trying to lift her mood. "Dumping!" she said with a smile. Helga had to try very hard not to laugh. "Thanks, Phoebs, I already feel a little better."

The two girls continued walking for a few seconds, before they could see Arnold and Aaron walking towards the school in the opposite direction. "And I feel horrible again." Helga stated and sighed a little. "It's Aaron and not Ice Creams who's the problem, I presume?" Phoebe asked.

"You presumed correctly, Dr. Livingstone."

"Helga, that doesn't actually - "

"No history lessons, Phoebe."

"But it's not - "

"Phoebs!"

"No history lessons." Phoebe agreed and looked towards Arnold and Aaron again. "Ever going to tell me, what's going on? Also what happened between you two afterwards?"

Helga nodded. "Sure," she answered and sighed a little. "can I call you some hours after school is over? I kinda have a thing I need to do first."

Phoebe just nodded in agreement, knowing very well not to pry into whatever Helga was supposed to do. She usually didn't meddle, but she'd learned through the years when such a thing was ok, and this wasn't one of them.

While Phoebe and Helga talked a bit, Aaron and Arnold were doing the same. "I gotta tell you, Arnold, I'm loving our grandparents more and more." Aaron stated with a big smile. "You seem mostly fond of grandma I've noticed." Arnold answered with a smile as well.

"Well, she's one crazy lady. I'm a New Yorker, we understand crazy. Besides, I think she kinda resembles Helga, don't she?"

"How in the world does she resemble Helga?"

"Well, not right now, but when she was younger."

"Younger? I don't think I've ever heard any stories about her young years. Not any I believed anyways." Arnold answered, while trying to remember all the times Gertie had tried to convince him she'd done all kinds of crazy things. He wasn't sure which to believe because honestly, they could all be true.

"Really? Oh, man, Arnold! You've missed out! Grandma used to bully grandpa just like Helga, well, bullied you." Aaron told and started laughing a little. Arnold stopped dead in his tracks, when an old story his grandpa had once told him came to mind. "Wait… she bullied grandpa?"

"Hell yeah! She always called him names, made fun of his batting, pulled pranks and sometimes, she blamed him for it! I say she sounds an awful lot like Helga."

Arnold could feel his wide head get dizzy all of a sudden. "You ok, man? I'm surprised you haven't heard the story before." Aaron noted and took ahold of Arnold's shoulder to keep him steady. "I… I've heard the story before from grandpa, but he… he never told me it was grandma who was… Gertie." Arnold explained and let his hand hold his head up a bit.

"But you knew grandma's name was Gertie, right?"

"Yeah, I know that now, when I'm older! Back then, I thought her name was Pookie! Grandpa always called her Pookie. It wasn't until I was older I realized, that her name was Gertie. And that was years after he told me about their childhood."

Aaron looked at Arnold in incredulity for a long time, before he started laughing so loudly, that some of the students heard him from inside the schoolyard. "Oh, my god! I'm sorry, Arnold, but the others are right: You're dense as fuck!"

Arnold had been about to try and defend himself, when he noticed Helga and Phoebe not too far away from them. His first thought had been to wave dramatically, while yelling good morning at them, but then he remembered what he and Aaron was talking about.

So… if grandma bullied grandpa when they were children… that meant he started dating and married his bully eventually? Arnold could his insides heat up, when he remembered how Phil had been so gung-ho back then about Helga being in love with Arnold.

Was grandpa right? If Helga really did resemble grandma, then… but she didn't bully him anymore. Not really at least. It was more friendly bickering at this point. Except for when they had a serious fight like yesterday.

Arnold shook this odd feeling he had inside of him off and went back to his original plan: Waving like a goof. "Good morning, Helga! Good morning, Phoebe!" he yelled. Helga and Phoebe looked away from each other and in his direction.

Helga could feel her worries melt away at the mere sight of Arnold. Unfortunately, he was right next to Aaron, so her worries came right back. "G-Good morning." She answered with a small smile, when the two cousins approached them.

"Good morning." Phoebe also quickly said and glanced in Helga's direction. She looked oddly uncomfortable, despite being in Arnold's presence. It must have been because of Aaron. Whatever was going on had a serious impact, and Phoebe was planning to find out one way or another, with or without Helga's consent. She wanted to help her.

"Mornin', ladies." Aaron answered and was about to put his arm over Helga. Her reaction was too quick for him though, so she managed to snake her arm around Phoebe's and thereby stepping away from him. "Well, let's get to class. Come on, boys." She said with her best fake cheerful smile and started pulling a little at the small girl.

Arnold, dense as formerly announced, didn't notice Helga's obvious avoidance maneuver and just walked by their side. "Come on, Aaron." He said with a small smile. Aaron looked a little skeptically at Helga for a second, but then shrugged it off and went after them.

* * *

To Helga's surprise the day went quite smoothly. Except for Aaron trying to put his arm around her that morning, then he stayed away. That meant she could pretty much go through her day as usual before this whole blackmailing thing started.

To both Helga and Arnold's luck, Aaron was yet again swarmed by girls at a far, far off table in the cafeteria. That gave them a chance to talk and, in a way, catch up. They both felt like it had been ages, since they could just sit down and talk with their best friends without any negative feelings or Aaron breathing down their necks.

All in all, Helga had been enjoying this day so far. But she still feared the bell, and when it finally rang, she let her forehead plop down onto her desk. Arnold, who was sitting right behind her, bend a little over his desk to get closer to her. "Hey, Helga?"

Helga just gave a muffled sound for an answer. "Uh-huh?" she mumbled. Arnold gulped a little before continuing. "… I know you told me to just trust you, but… Aaron isn't bothering you, is he? He claims he isn't, but - "

"Don't worry about it, football head." Helga answered after sitting up properly again. She started throwing her books into her bag and then pulled it over her shoulder. She turned to look at him. "I'm not in trouble or anything."

"… Well, that's good, but I still don't get what's going on. Also, why are you meeting up with him now?" Arnold asked with a bit of hurt in his voice. Helga's eyes popped open. "You… H-How do you know that we're meeting up?"

Arnold frowned at Helga's almost panicked expression. "Well, yesterday when you two were talking outside the bathroom, I overheard." He answered. "What!?" Helga shrieked, but managed to hold her voice down. She leaned towards him to whisper. "I thought you were gonna dry off your clothes a little more, as you _told_ me. What, you stalking me or something?!"

"Helga, you've been asking me that for years and you already know I'm not, so don't ask stupid questions right now. Could you please just answer me?"

"Why is your question less stupid than mine? I already told you to just trust me. Is that so hard?"

"Well… n-no, it's not… B-But I still - "

"Then it's very easy, Arnoldo," Helga said and stood up from her seat. "just do as I tell you and it'll be fine." With those words she started walking out of the room. Arnold sighed when she went out the door and noticed, that Aaron was following her. Not that he was the only one, the others were of course leaving too, but Arnold couldn't help remembering that those two were going to the same place. Right now.

* * *

"So, who is Mighty Pete anyway?" Aaron asked when he and Helga had lost his fan girls and were now walking together. "Mighty Pete is not a _who_, it's an it. It's this big tree with a treehouse in it. We built it years ago. I think we all go back from time to time, but we haven't all been in there for a long time for obvious reasons." Helga answered.

"Which are?"

"We're all too big now to fit, that's why! Doi!"

"But you and I will fit?"

"There can be a few people, but too many and the treehouse wouldn't be able to carry the weight. It's kindergarten logic." Helga answered with clear annoyance in her voice. Why did she have to explain the laws of gravity to this guy? Were New Yorkers hopelessly behind in school or something?

"Hello, Mary Sunshine." Aaron mumbled under his breath and sighed just a bit. Helga turned to smile at him with the biggest, fakest, toothpaste, Lila'ish smile she could manage. "Oh, I'm ever so sorry. Don't I seem excited enough to begin this wonderful adventure of blackmailing with you?"

Aaron just stared at her for a couple of seconds, before stopping dead in his tracks and started to laugh so loudly, that he made a few heads on the street turn. Helga just looked at him in shock and even looked around her in embarrassment. She felt like screaming: 'I don't know him!' but was to shocked to say anything. "What's so funny?!"

"You! Oh, my god, I can't breathe…"

"Oh, glad I'm to your amusement, yutz!"

"Sorry, sorry, it's just…" Aaron straightened his back and laid a finger under his eye to get a tear away. "You're probably the funniest girl I've ever met."

Helga frowned at his remark. "Just for that comment? You can't have met a lot of funny people." She stated and crossed her arms. Aaron shook his head. "No, it's not just that comment. It was… everything. I knew you were funny, but that Lila impression was just so spot on."

Helga's eyes went big. "You could see it was Lila?" she asked in wonder and started walking again. Aaron nodded while following her. "Oh, yeah, the _ever so_ charming girl with the _ever so_ fake smile. Yeah, you nailed it."

"Huh… I guess my impressions are still as good as ever."

"You do impressions?"

"Yup, I even made a little show back in fourth grade. People didn't like it in the beginning because apparently I hurt their feelings. I tried making up for it, but thanks to Arnold, I kept on doing the impressions rather than faking some dumb poem. After that, it seemed like people didn't mind as much. Especially after I made fun of Arnold. That, they seemed to love even more."

"I thought people loved Arnold?"

"Oh, they do, but that doesn't make them blind to his flaws. He's been the victim of some bullying from others besides just me, you know. I remember back when he stopped giving advice to people, because we all called him a buttinski a few too many times."

"And let me guess: You convinced him to give advice again?"

"Well… they were all trying to kill _me_ for giving bad advice, so… of course I did!"

"Plus, he wasn't being himself anymore, so you started to kinda miss him, even if he also annoyed you a little by butting into your business?" Aaron asked while leaning a little closer to Helga, as if intimidating her into answering. She frowned and looked away. "Can we change the subject?"

Aaron sighed and leaned back again with a small smile. "Helga, I already know you're in love with the guy. What's the point with the defense mechanism?"

"It's what I've been doing for thirteen years. How can you expect me to change that all of a sudden?" Helga asked honestly. No matter how much willpower she had, it seemed that doing something your whole life kinda stuck with you. Big surprise. She couldn't change just because she wanted to. She needed more than just her own will.

"So… you've never talked to _anyone_ about being in love with Arnold?" Aaron asked with a bit of concern in his voice. Helga chewed a little on her lower lip. "Well… Phoebe knows, though I've… never actually said the words."

"Then how does she know?"

"She's smart, and I may have hinted at it from time to time…"

"No one else?"

"… Patty figured it out, I think."

"Patty?"

"Patty was this bully back in elementary who wanted to beat me up one day - "

"Beat you up?! Beat _you_ up? What the hell did you say to her?"

"It wasn't so much what I said _to_ her. More like what I said _about_ her…"

"Oh, you were talking trash behind her back?"

"I guess you can call it that. Anyways, if it hadn't been for Arnold talking to her, I would probably still be limping to this day."

"So, Arnold saved you?" Aaron asked with an obvious smirk. Helga glanced towards him. "Yeah, h-he did, I guess… That's also why she asked if we had some kind of thing for each other, I think. I denied it, of course, but then she just smiled at me, so… yeah, I think she figured that one out on her own."

"A thing for _each other_? Not just you for him?" Aaron asked. Helga shrugged. "I guess she thought he liked me, just because he saved me. But it wasn't like she knew Arnold all that well, so she didn't know he would've done that for anyone. Besides, she was pretty dumb. Nice, but dumb. Why else would the school have held her back a few years?"

Aaron gave a very pensive sound, which made Helga frown at him. "What?" she asked, but he just brushed off her question. "Anyone else who knew?"

"Uh… oh, I did tell _one_ person. Doc - " Helga snapped her lips shut as if she was an oyster, when she realized what she had been about to admit. "Doug?" Aaron said as if he was repeating her words. "Who's Doug?"

"Uh… n-no one. Never mind. No one else knows."

"… Helga…"

"Nope, no one else. Can't think of a soul." Helga insisted and shook her head a little. Aaron sighed and turned around on his heel. She looked at him over her shoulder. "Where are you going?" she asked. "Back to the boarding house to tell Arnold that you love him." Aaron answered casually.

"Wha - The hell you are!" Helga yelled and yanked him back by his hood. "Ow! You're strangling me!" Aaron shouted and pulled his hood back in place. She just scowled at him with her hands stuck firmly at her sides. "So… who _is_ Doug?" he asked, when he could breathe again.

"… Not Doug, you buffoon. Doc! Doctor Bliss, also from back in elementary." Helga answered while clutching her hands around the strap of her bag. "Dr. Bliss? As in… oh, whoa, you went to a shrink, didn't you?" Aaron asked.

"Not because I wanted to! She… caught me socking Brainy and then told me to come and see her to work out my anger issues. At some point I snapped and… told her why I was picking on Arnold in particular."

"… Brainy?"

"Not his real name, I guess, but I've been socking him since preschool. He's practically stalking me."

"Whoa, whoa, wait! The stalker has a stalker?"

"… Yeah, and though he's been pissing me off too many times to count, I _do_ appreciate the irony. Now, let's get to the treehouse already! We're talking in the middle of the streets, and that was _not_ my plan!"

* * *

Aaron was looking around in wonder while sitting with both legs bent and one over the other. "Pretty nicely built, I gotta admit. You don't exactly see many treehouses in New York." He observed with a smile. Helga sat down in front of him in the same position. "Yeah, yeah, this place is so boss. Now, I can't take the suspension anymore. Tell me already. What are you gonna do to me?"

"Nu-uh, Helga, I still have some questions."

"What?! What makes you think I wanna answer your questions?"

"Well, if you won't, then I'll go tell Arnold - "

"that I love him. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's getting old now." Helga interrupted and sighed. "Fine… Ask away."

"First of all, I like that you've finally caught on to how this is going to work."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm a smartass. Come on!"

"Whoa, for a girl who's been crushing on a guy for thirteen years without saying shit, I gotta say, you don't have a lot of patience." Aaron observed and shook his head a little. "Fine, I'll get right to it. Arnold's been telling me a lot of stories about you and I can guess, without much effort, that your version of the stories may be a little different."

"Probably. So?"

"I wanna hear your version." Aaron answered. Helga frowned and let her head pop out, so that her neck seemed ridiculously hunched. "Excuse me? Why would you want to hear that?" she asked in incredulity. He shrugged. "I'm curios, I guess. The more I know, the more blackmail material I've got too, so come on. Tell me a cool story, bro."

"I'm not your bro! But, ugh, fine… Let's start with whatever story you want to hear my version of first." Helga answered and sighed. Aaron lifted his hands and put the tips of the fingers together and made a creepy smile. "Excellent."

"Oh, boy, a Simpsons reference. This is gonna be one _long_ talk." Helga realized and made an even bigger sigh before ravishing her brain for details about her adventures with Arnold.

* * *

"So, it was actually _your fault_ that Lila and Arnold even started like-liking each other to begin with? All because you couldn't just have left that damn chalk heart with your names on it, as it was?"

"I panicked!"

"What kind of panic makes you write another girl's name in such a situation?!"

"The Helga Pataki kind! Now, are we done already?!" Helga shouted back at Aaron and leaned back against the wall behind her. He sighed exasperatedly and started leaning on the palm of his hand. "Man, you live a complicated life, Helga Pataki. Ok, that was the stories Arnold had already told me about. Now, let me hear the ones, he doesn't know about."

"What?! So, to you this meeting is just about hearing all the crazy stalker stories?!" Helga asked in terror. Aaron smirked and nodded. "Yeah, pretty much."

* * *

"Oh, god! I would have loved to see Arnold's face!"

"Don't say that. I was extremely happy at that moment, but I still feel sorta bad about it. He liked that dumbass parrot." Helga answered and started rubbing her arm in embarrassment. "Yeah, but still. I can just imagine the dumbstruck look on his face." Aaron said and made an overly dramatic shocked facial expression.

Helga rolled her eyes. "Actually, it was more like this." She made a rather normal looking face besides a pair of a bit bigger eyes. "Really? He was in such a state of shock that he could barely comprehend it?" Aaron asked. She shrugged. "Yeah, that seems just about right."

"Well, it was either that thing dying, or him and everyone in your class hearing your poem dedicated to him. Man, you really should be more careful about your monologging."

"I don't wanna hear that from you! Let's just move on already."

* * *

"And Arnold still doesn't know how you got his hat to begin with?" Aaron asked with a big smile. "No way! He'd hate me if he ever found out, that I was the one who took it." Helga answered.

"But you were also the one to go fetch it by digging through mountains of trash in order to find it."

"Of course I did! That little shrimp was pathetic without it! Refused to even come outside to get ice cream. That big dope."

"Whoa, then a kid is really messed up, when they don't even want ice cream."

"Tell me about it."

* * *

"… Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"So… even after meeting the real Cecile… he still didn't figure out that you were the fake one?"

"How was he supposed to? I look a lot different with my hair down, and before that I had the same hair as a poodle! And I also wasn't scowling at him, and I was being nice. No wonder he didn't realize."

"That may be so, but… still. I wonder if he still has the other shoe?" Aaron wondered out loud. Helga shrugged. "Maybe he just threw it out. All I know is that when I came home, I only had one of them."

"So, a twisted kind of Cinderella?"

"Oh, haw-haw."

* * *

"You've sabotaged every single date of that poor guy?" Aaron asked with an impressed grin. "Yeah, I mean, come on, not even _Arnold_ has that much bad luck. I swear if it hadn't been for me, he would've started dating both Ruth, Summer and Lila." Helga asked with an equally big grin.

"Well, by what I've heard about them from you, then the guy didn't miss out."

"He seriously didn't, I swear. Ruth was plainer than his other cousin Arnie – Maybe they'd be a good match actually. Summer was just a two-timing bitch, and Lila… Lila's actually really sweet."

"She may be sweet, but it seems rather fake, don't you think?" Aaron asked. Helga shrugged. "I don't know… Maybe. I mean… maybe it's kinda the same thing with her as it is with me."

"What do you mean?"

"… Back when we met her in fourth grade, the other girls and I went to her home to spy a bit on her. Let's just say that she's been… a bit unfortunate through her life. Maybe she's just putting up a happy face to mask the pain?"

Aaron stared a little blankly at Helga. It made her uncomfortable. "What? What is it?" she asked. He shook his head a little. "N-Nothing. I just… I knew you were good with words, but I didn't think you were deep like that. Maybe you're right. She hides her problems through a happy mask, and you hide yours through - "

"A scowl and a pair of fists. Just so you know, those _are_ actually a part of me too."

"But you still hide all the good stuff."

"… Shut up."

* * *

"And now I'm officially out of stories." Helga admitted and made a big sigh. How many hours had it been by now? It was pretty dark outside. She glanced towards Aaron and noticed the very hard-thinking look he had on his face. "… You look like you're constipated or something. What are you thinking so hard about?"

"Nothing really… Mostly that… you're pretty amazing." Aaron answered and showed a small smirk through his teeth. Helga just stared blankly at him for a second. "Uh, thanks, I guess, but I really don't see where that came from."

"It came from all those crazy things you've done to, and for, Arnold through the years. You're really one of a kind, no matter how anyone looks at it. You're unique. I like that." Aaron admitted with no shame whatsoever.

Helga wasn't used to being praised to this extent, so she automatically went back to her roots: Anger and denial. "What makes you think that I care about what you think of me, bucko?! I just wasted a million hours telling you about pointless stuff! Now, tell me, why did you want to know all this anyway?!"

"I already told you, didn't I? Curiosity."

"What does your curiosity have to do with anything?"

"I'm blackmailing you. Just do what I tell you already."

"… Why, you little! When have I _not_ done what you told me to?! I just gave you my whole life story and you're still not satisfied?!"

"Oh, I'm very satisfied, Helga. I think I've finally gotten the grasp of you and Arnold's relationship."

"… Huh? Is that what this is about? Understanding us, as if we were animals for observation or something?"

"That's pretty close, yeah." Aaron admitted with a smile. Helga wanted to rant at him some more, but simply didn't have the will to anymore. "So," she started and let her chin rest in her palm. "what now?"

"Well, I still need a little time to make a plan."

"A plan?"

"A plan. You know those, right?"

"Yeah, I know about plans, you arrogant son of a bitch! What I mean to ask is: _Why_ do you need a plan? And what for?"

"Patience, my dear. Now, could you live up to the meaning of your name and show me the holy way to my holy home?" Aaron asked and started climbing on all fours towards the rope ladder. Helga started following him with big eyes. "What a horrible pun! That made no sense whatsoever!"

* * *

"Here you go, you big idiot. The boarding house. Can I go home now?" Helga asked in annoyance and with her arms crossed. He shrugged and knocked at the door. "I guess you can, if you want - "

"Oh, I want to. See you tomorrow." Helga interrupted and started walking. "Are you sure you don't want to come inside?" Aaron asked nonchalantly. She stopped in her tracks and turned around to face him. "What!?"

"Well, this _is_ your chance to come in with an invitation and not because you need to stalk Arnold or retrieve something." Aaron explained and walked up the steps. He could hear footsteps just behind the door and knew, that it was probably Arnold coming to open.

Just as Arnold was opening the door, Helga screamed at Aaron. "I've been in there with an invitation before, you moron!" She then turned around, not noticing that Arnold has just appeared outside and was looking towards her.

Helga just kept stomping through the street, as Arnold and Aaron were watching her. "Did you… have a good time?" Arnold asked while staring pensively at Helga. "Both yes and no. It went up and down, but doesn't it always with Helga?" Aaron asked and walked past Arnold to get inside.

"Wait, why did she storm off like that? And what was that about an invitation?" Arnold asked, while keeping the door open. Aaron just shrugged. "I have no idea what that girl is on about." He answered and turned to walk into the kitchen. "Grandma, I'm hungry. What's for dinner?"

Arnold frowned at Aaron's dismissive answer and looked towards Helga again. Her pace was now slower, but she was still getting further and further away. He cocked his head to the side and tried desperately to make sense of everything. "What about an invitation?" he mumbled, but then just sighed in abandonment and closed the door behind him.

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: Yes! I did it again! You still don't know what Aaron is gonna do to Helga! Mwuahahaha xD Mehe, it won't take too long now :P At least not with the first thing. Again the first thing is not anything sexual as such, more like embarrassing. For Helga that is. It won't be pure torture or anything, I promise :P**

**Anyways! Still waiting for you guys to tell me, what you think Aaron is gonna do to her! Have anything crossed your minds? What are your thoughts about this whole thing? Is there something you fear, or something you hope will happen? Please do tell. I'm really curious :3**

**Oh, and no hate on New Yorkers whatsoever! I'm just trying to stay in Helga's character.**


	8. Something is different

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**After spending a weekend in pure bliss, Helga had to go back to face her fears: Aaron. While both Arnold and Phoebe goes on worrying and trying to figure out, why Helga seems to be acting so odd around Arnold's cousin, Helga herself and Aaron goes to Mighty Pete to finally have "the talk."**_

_**To Helga's deep annoyance, the talk didn't consist what she had expected. Through several hours, she was forced to tell every single story she had ever shared with Arnold. So, now Aaron officially knows everything. And now all Helga can do is wait for his next move.**_

**Author's 1st note: Ok, so we're getting real close to the first blackmail mission and again: This one isn't very sexual. More like annoyingly embarrassing to Helga. Some other girls would be fine with what she is going to be told to do, but not her. Nu-uh xD So you can be calm about this one, because it's mostly Helga's stubbornness that's her main issue in this one :3**

* * *

Chapter 8: "Something _is_ different"

Helga plopped down on her bed with the biggest sigh one could ever imagine. "It's official… This guy could literally ruin my life. He knows _everything_… Why oh why did I have to monologue at that very moment at that very place?! Criminy, I'm a basket case! That's it: I'm done monologging… At least until I figure out some brilliant way to never get caught while doing it."

With a sigh she sat up again. "Like _not_ monologging… or at least wait until I get home." She snorted. "Yeah, wait 'till I get home. Good idea, old girl, as if you could do that. You'd burst within the hour and then just yell it out to the world."

Helga laid back down on her bed and stuck her hand into her pocket. She found Phoebe's number with a quick motion of her finger and waited for her to respond.

"Hi, Helga." Phoebe answered on the other side of the phone. Helga smiled at her voice. "Hey, Phoebs… So. Want the long or the short version?"

"You already know I want the long version."

"Right… Ok, here goes."

Helga told Phoebe every single detail about, what had happened between her and Arnold, but she didn't tell Phoebe about the blackmailing. As she had promised herself, she wouldn't risk Aaron pulling her into it in any way.

"Whoa…" Phoebe mumbled, when Helga declared her finish. "Yeah, you can say that again. I don't really know what to do, Phoebs. Arnold was really mad for one reason or another at Aaron for showing interest in me, which he really isn't, I think. I don't know what to make of that! Why would Arnold care about that?"

"Maybe he _does_ like you, Helga. It's not impossible."

"I… I'd like to think so, but…"

"But what?"

"First of all, why would he? I mean really… I've done almost nothing to him through the years, other than probably giving him insecurities about… well, everything! Besides, he doesn't look at me, the way he looks at girls when he likes them."

"What do you mean?"

"I've seen him looking at both Ruth, Summer and Lila. He doesn't look at me like that."

"Maybe that's because he looks at you like that, when you're not looking?"

"… H-He also hasn't said anything! With the rest of the girls, he confessed to them! If Arnold was in love with me, then isn't he the type of guy to say it?"

"Well, to be perfectly honest, Helga, maybe he's afraid to do so. As you said yourself, you - "

"have been a cruel bitch to him through his whole life, and he would naturally be scared of saying something like that, because who knows how I'd react. Damn, I'm a sadomasochist…"

"I've always told you, that you ruin things for yourself."

"… Because I don't deserve him, Phoebs."

"Helga - "

"You know I'm right."

"No! That's not - "

"Oh, come on! How can I deserve a guy as sweet, selfless and caring as Arnold, when I, myself, am just rude, selfish and self-centered? I… I don't wanna talk about it anymore. It's been a long day, ok? I… I just wanna go to bed. Thanks for listening."

"… Ok, Helga. Goodnight." Phoebe answered and hung up. Helga looked at her phone for a second. "I'm sorry…" she mumbled and let her hand fall onto her bed and fell asleep like that.

* * *

To Helga's surprise, it took Aaron 'till Wednesday to take contact to her again. Not that she was complaining or anything. No, wait, yes, she _was_ complaining. She would've preferred if he'd gotten cold feet or had a strike of bad conscience or something. But she was never that lucky.

It'd been in the middle of lunch period, when Aaron for once left his fan girls behind to walk over to the table of Helga, Arnold, Gerald and Phoebe. "Oh, no…" Helga mumbled under her breath and put down her fork on her plate. Arnold hadn't noticed Aaron yet, so he just looked at her questioningly. "What's wrong?"

"Hey, guys."

Everyone, except Helga, turned to look up at Aaron. _Oh._ Arnold thought. _That's what's wrong._ "Hey, what's up, man?" Gerald asked casually. Aaron shrugged. "Nothing much. Just wanted to get away from the girls for once. Can I join you?"

"I don't know; _Can_ you?" Helga asked with a seething smile. Aaron just rolled his eyes. "_May_ I join you?" he corrected, but didn't wait for an answer. He grabbed a free chair from the table next to theirs and pulled it right next to Helga.

"What's the point in asking, if you don't care for an answer?" Helga asked with a frown. As Aaron was sitting down, she quickly scooted closer to Arnold. To his slight happiness, of course, even if it was only to get away from his cousin.

Aaron did notice Helga's obvious attempt at getting away from him, but didn't comment on it. "So, what are you guys talking about? I'm getting pretty tired of hearing about Rhonda's big party this Saturday." He admitted and rested his chin on his palm. "Are you guys going by the way?"

"I am." Gerald and Phoebe answered together, before giving each other an obvious happy smile. "I'm going too." Arnold chimed in and looked hopefully in Helga's direction. She was just moving her fork around in her food. When she could feel everyone looking at her, she looked up and rolled her eyes. "No."

Arnold nodded in understanding. Helga never did go to Rhonda's parties, so he hadn't expected anything else. Though it would be nice to party with her just once. "That's it?" Aaron asked and gained the attention of the rest of the group. "Just no?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. No way in _Hell_." Helga corrected and went back to her food. Despite the fact that the answer didn't exactly make Arnold happy, he couldn't help smiling at the very Helga-like humor.

"Well, why not?" Aaron asked, though he had an idea why. "Because the theme of Rhonda's parties are usually: 'Get drunk while looking classy.' And, no offense, you guys," she said. "but I have better things to do than prancing around in some big ball dress at a Saturday night."

"Hey, _we're_ not doing to be wearing dresses." Gerald corrected and pointed between him and Arnold. Helga rolled her eyes. "Oh, I'm so sorry for the mistake. Can you ever forgive me?" she asked. "_Smoking_ then. You know what I meant."

"Wouldn't it be fun to try just once?" Aaron inquired. Helga glanced towards him with a suspicious frown. _Oh, no… He's not trying to make me…_ Her thoughts stopped there, because her mouth took over. "No. Definitely not. Never in a million years. Nu-uh. Nope!"

It was obvious to Aaron that Helga had caught on to his intentions, so it was time to take it up a notch. "Well, that's _your_ choice then." Aaron said and leaned a little closer to her, mostly to get closer to Arnold. Helga already knew what he would say next, so she was already lifting her foot above his. "Hey, Arnold, did you know that - "

Aaron made a pained expression, when Helga's foot meet his own in a vicious stomp. He managed to hold down a cry in pain, as he leaned back again. He smirked a little her, as she frowned back at him.

While the rest of the group _did_ notice the odd exchange, it was only Phoebe who tried thinking it through. _Did Arnold know what exactly?_ She thought to herself. _Does Aaron know about Ice Cream?_

"So, you sure you don't want to join us at the party, Helga?" Aaron asked with a winning smile. Helga growled a bit, but then shook her head. "Even if I _did_ want to join Rhonda's stupid party, then there's one itty bitty problem, bucko." She answered.

"Oh, yeah? What's that?" Aaron asked. Helga leaned dangerously close to him in a threatening way. "The princess hates me! She wouldn't invite me to one of her parties, even if she was dying and it was her last! Hell, even if she _did_, then she'd consider it as charity! So give it up." With those words she leaned back again to nibble at her food.

After a few seconds of thinking, Aaron smiled casually. "I could talk to her, if you want?" he suggested. Helga cocked an eyebrow at him. "How would that help?"

"Well, she wanted me to join the party, but I told her I wasn't sure if I was in the mood. But if you came along, I think it'd be more fun. So, what do you say?"

The whole group stared at Aaron in disbelief. Gerald couldn't believe that _anyone_ would think that Helga joining a party would make it more fun, while Phoebe was starting to lean more and more towards the theory of Aaron crushing on Helga rather than blackmailing her, and Arnold could feel a bit of jealousy boiling within him again.

Helga, on the other hand, was seething with anger. This guy just wouldn't give up! _Well, it's not like the princess will agree._ She thought in relief. _No way in Hell. Not even if Aaron asks her._ "Go right ahead and try to convince her, but I'm telling you: It's a lost cause."

"But if Rhonda agrees, then you will come along, right?" Aaron asked. Helga frowned at him. "She's not going to agree."

"But if she does?"

"She won't."

"Maybe she will."

"Very unlikely."

"Very likely if _I_ ask."

"You arrogant - "

"Just go and ask her already!" Phoebe, Gerald and Arnold interrupted, all annoyed with both Helga and Aaron's stubbornness. "I will – I will. Be back in a few." Aaron said, stood up and walked towards the "popular" table.

Helga's scowl got deeper and deeper as she watched Aaron go. _There's no way in a million years she'll say yes._ She tried to convince herself._ If she does, then she'll need to get a new hairstylist, because that would mean her brain's gotten deep-fried with too much hairspray._

On Aaron's side of things, he already knew that Rhonda would say yes. How hard could it be? She'd seemed very disappointed, when he said that he wasn't sure if he would come. "Hey, girls. Missed me?" he asked as he got closer to their table. "Ever so much." Lila answered with a big smile. That same big smile Helga had made while impersonating her, he noted.

"So, Aaron, you're sure you don't want to come to my party? It'll be so much fun." Rhonda said with a small pout. "Actually," Aaron started and sat in-between the two girls. "I think I would like to go after all. I mean, who can say no to you?"

Rhonda giggled a bit at that. "Why, thank you. I knew you'd come along eventually. No one say no to a Rhonda party." She bragged and took out a folded list in her pocket. "I'll just write down your name, so the butler knows he can let you in."

"I do have a condition, Rhonda." Aaron said. Rhonda's pencil that had been just about to touch the paper, stopped. She looked at him in skepticism. "A condition? And what's that?" she asked.

"I want to bring a date of my choice with me."

"Oh!" Rhonda said in a mix of relief and unhappiness. Relief, because that seemed like an easy condition, and unhappiness, because that meant he was probably going to hang out with that girl all evening. "Wh-Who do you want to bring along?"

"Helga Pataki."

The pencil between Rhonda's fingers snapped at that name. "What!? Why would you want Helga as your - " Rhonda had seemed furious until this very moment, but now she seemed relieved. "Oh, wait, you're joking, right?"

Aaron shook his head. "I'm dead serious. I want Helga with me at your party. It's the both of us or none. We're a package deal." He answered. Rhonda seemed like she'd seen a ghost, and Lila turned to look towards Helga and the others. She cocked her head to the side, trying to study her. _He wants to bring Helga? But why?_ She thought with a small pout. _I don't see what a guy like Aaron would want with a girl like Helga. She's just ever so rude and she dresses like a rag doll most of the time. Maybe he sees something we don't? But how would that be possible? We've known her much longer._

"I… I just don't understand why you'd want to bring _Helga_." Rhonda cringed at the name. "I-I mean… you could do _so_ much better." She added and leaned a little closer to Aaron, obviously trying to hint at herself as his date.

"That's none of your business, why I want to bring her, Rhonda. So, are we invited or not?" Aaron asked, slowly losing his patience. Or so it seemed. He was ready to start arguing with Rhonda if necessary. It wasn't. With a dramatic sigh, as if she was signing her death penalty, she took a new pencil in her pencil case and wrote down Helga's name on the paper.

"Thank you, Rhonda, we'll be looking forward to the party." Aaron said with a charming smile, kissed her cheek and stood up. Rhonda sighed dreamily for a second, but then shook her head to get herself out of it. "You'd better keep a leash on her though! If she ruins this party, it'll be bad for you too!"

"Will do." Aaron answered with a smirk and started walking towards Helga and company. Rhonda and Lila just stared at each other. "Aaron and Helga?!" they both whispered in disbelief. Rhonda sighed deeply and let her chin rest on the back of her hand. "This is gonna be one interesting party…"

Helga was in the middle of drinking from her juice box, when Aaron put his palm on the table and leaned down to her ear. "Looks like we have ourselves a date this Saturday." He whispered. Her eyes went big and she spit out the juice in her mouth. "Helga!" Gerald yelped, when he was hit.

"We have a WHAT?!" Helga shrieked and looked at Aaron. He started leaning closer to her, as she started leaning back. "Rhonda gave you permission to attend her party." He explained and leaned even closer, forcing her to start leaning a little up against Arnold. "You're kidding! The princess would never let me in at one of her parties. And that doesn't mean we have a date!"

"I'm sorry to say that you're wrong. All it took was a bit of manipulation from moi, and then you were good to go." Aaron said and leaned a little closer again. As Helga leaned back again, she could feel Arnold's hand hold her back as a way to support her. If he didn't, she probably would fall backwards onto his lap or something.

"Whoa, if you convinced Rhonda to let Helga join her party, then you're a better manipulator than Helga and Rhonda together!" Gerald observed with an impressed grin. "Shut up, tall hair boy!" Helga said with a frown and stood up to glare at Aaron. "E-Even if what you're saying is true, then it's not like I have anything to wear that will satisfy her demands for that over-the-top party!"

"Then we'll just have to go shopping for something, won't we?" Aaron asked with a slight smirk. Helga felt herself lose touch with the ground beneath her. Everything got too much all of a sudden. She should have seen it coming: Her tendency to faint, when her feelings became too strong, had only gotten worse through the years. She should've realized Aaron would make her pass out at some point.

"Helga!" Arnold yelped, when he could see Helga's back get closer to him. He reached out for her, as she was about to fall over his lap and down to the floor. "Helga!" Phoebe also squawked and stood up to lean over the table. She also knew that Helga tended to faint a lot, if she was too overwhelmed – And she knew how much Helga despised shopping.

Though this passing out was due to so much more than just shopping. It was everything. Having someone know every single one of her secrets, having someone blackmailing her, and now having to go to party hosted by a person she hated and having to dress up for at, as if she was some wind-up doll like her sister. Everything she'd considered safe was gone within a few days.

Helga's eyes fluttered open and she sat straight up onto Arnold's lap, because that's where she had landed as she was fainting. "We're gonna what?!" she asked, not noticing where she was sitting at all or whose arms were holding her up.

Aaron blinked a little at her. Unlike the rest of the table, he didn't know that Helga having a semi passing out was somewhat regular. "Uh… you okay?" he asked gently. Her scowl got deeper. "No! I am not okay! What did you saw we were gonna do?!"

"Uh… sh-shopping." He said carefully, as if expecting her to faint at the mere word. Helga just kept scowling as usual though. "I am _not_ going out shopping! I hate shopping! Ask Phoebe. I've lost count on how many times she's asked me, and I've said no." she said. "Uh, th-that's true. She really does hate it." Phoebe chimed in, trying to help her. She sat down, when she'd confirmed Helga's health.

She flashed her a quick grateful smile, but it didn't last long. "Well, if you don't have any clothes that lives up to the demand of the princess, then you don't really have a choice, do you? I'll get back to you later about where we'll go, ok? See you guys later." Aaron said and walked away, as if his words were final.

The gang just stared at Aaron, as he walked away. "Is it just me… or did he just come over here to begin with to fuck everything up?" Gerald asked and turned to look at Phoebe, who nodded in agreement.

Helga sighed heavily and let her forehead rest on Arnold's shoulder. She was still rather dizzy after almost fainting for a second and still hadn't realized what position she was in. Arnold, on the other hand, was _very much aware_ what position Helga was in.

_I can't figure out if Helga not realizing is a good or a bad thing. Doesn't she realize because it just feels natural to her? Or doesn't she realize because it's no big deal because it's me?_ Arnold thought to himself. He hoped for the first theory, but nevertheless: There was no way he was going to point it out to her.

He wanted her to keep sitting in his lap for two different reasons and those two reasons was from two different Arnolds: The first one was his caring side, the one that wanted to make sure that if she felt dizzy again, then she wouldn't hurt herself. The second one was the boy in love, the one that would keep her on his lap forever as a lapdog if he could.

"When is your cousin leaving again?" Helga asked, still with her forehead on Arnold's shoulder. "S… Saturday. Fourth of May." He answered, trying to calm his beating heart. Helga's head popped up at his answer. "What!? But… But he was only supposed to be her during April!"

"He's supposed to be here for a month… He arrived Thursday, April the fourth, and he's leaving Saturday, May the fourth."

"Ugh…" Helga mumbled and let her forehead land on Arnold's shoulder again. "I wanna hibernate trough this month…" She decided. He chuckled at that. "Hibernations usually only lasts through the winter though, don't they?"

"Don't question my logic, football head."

"Whatever you say, Helga."

"That's right," Helga said and raised her head from Arnold's shoulder again. "whatever _I_ s…" Then she froze, when she noticed her arms around his neck. He sighed a little inwardly when he detected her shocked expression. _Damn, she noticed._

"Uh… how did I end here?" Helga asked, as she felt her heart trying to leap out through her ribcage. "Wh-When you almost fainted, I grabbed you. Then you sat up and… yeah." Arnold explained.

"Oh… Th-Thanks for catching me, Arnoldo…" Helga replied with reddening cheeks and looked him in the eyes. "You're… welcome…" he answered and felt his own cheeks get a little warmer at her gaze. He was sure that for a second she smiled at him, before standing up to sit at her own chair again.

_That wasn't my imagination, was it?_ Arnold thought and glanced a little at Helga. _She was about to smile, wasn't she? She also didn't push me away or said "ew", like when we were children. Again, the ew could just be because she's matured, but…_

It wasn't until this moment, Arnold and Helga noticed the eyes of their best friends. Phoebe was doing her very best not to smile in happiness, while Gerald was frowning with confusion. "Is it just me, or does Helga always end up in your arms one way or another?" he asked.

Helga felt her breath hitch in her throat and she reached out to take her juice box again. _Now that he's mentioning it… Arnold have always been there to catch me, hasn't he?_ She thought with an almost invisible smile on her lips.

Arnold just shrugged as his reply to Gerald. _Now that he's mentioning it… Helga did always jump into my arms whenever she was scared, when we were children… But this is the first time in years I've held her like that._ He thought and felt heat rising in his lower abdomen. _This was also way different. She's never been on my lap before._

Gerald started grinning, when he noticed that special smile on Arnold's face that only boys knew exactly what meant. "Oh, man!" He exclaimed, gaining the attention of everyone around the table. "Arnold, don't tell me that because Helga was on your lap for a minute, then you got a - "

Gerald didn't get to finish his question, before Arnold took ahold of his bread and threw it at him to shut him up. "Gerald!" he scolded and felt heat spreading around his face. He turned to look at Helga, who was staring at him in confusion. He shook his head violently as an answer. _Please don't let her figure it out! _He begged in his mind. _Please make her believe me!_

Helga just looked at her juice box again and started drinking from it. _What in the world were they talking about?_ She wondered. _Because I was on his lap, he got a… what?_ Then it hit her. She almost choked on her juice yet again and started coughing violently.

She felt Arnold's hand starting to clap her back to help her. When she caught her breath again, she nodded thankfully. "Th-Thanks. Don't know what happened." She lied and glanced a little at him, but couldn't help lowering her eyes for a second. _It's not like I can confirm it with such loose pants!_

Phoebe, who had been just as much in the dark as Helga until this very second, turned to bang her forehead down on Gerald's shoulder, trying very hard to hold down a giggle. "Something wrong?" he asked. She shook her head, still having her shoulders shaking with her inaudible laughter.

_Don't tell me Phoebe figured it out…_ Arnold thought and sighed a little. _Well, as long as she doesn't tell Helga, and Helga doesn't realize on her own…_

"Well," Helga suddenly said with a noticeable worn-out voice. "looks like I'm gonna be partying with you guys this Saturday…" She lifted both her thumbs and made a big, obviously fake smile. "Yay!" she then just sighed and let her head tilt backwards over the backrest.

"I think it'll be fun, Helga. I'm looking forward to go to a party with you." Phoebe said, doing her best to sound cheerful and to lift Helga's mood. "In a way I look forward to it too. I mean, you _are_ made to make this party a disaster and that's always fun." Gerald chimed in. Helga just stuck her tongue out at him.

"I'm excited about seeing you at the party too." Arnold said and started nibbling a bit at his straw to hide just how excited he was about going to a party with Helga. His smile tried to crack his face, if he let go of the straw for even a second.

Helga glanced towards him. "Thanks, guys, but… no party is worth having to go shopping… with _him_." She added while wrinkling her nose and eyebrows at the mere thought. Arnold looked at her. "Why do you hate shopping so much to begin with?"

"It's not the shopping experience. It's… the shopping memories."

"… Memories?"

"… When I was a child, Olga was the one to take me out shopping, because Mariam and Bob had more important things to do." Helga said and took a deep breath at once again being reminded of the rotten family life she had. "And Olga always tried to dress me like a… like a… fucking Lolita Doll or something! And it just drove me nuts! I'm not a picture perfect princess like her, like Hell if I'd ever dress like one!"

Arnold suddenly felt stupid. _Of course it would be a reason like that._ He thought. _I would've hated shopping too, if my only memories of it, was to be told to wear clothes I hated._ "This time it'll be different though, right?" he asked. "I mean, Aaron is obviously not your sister."

Helga frowned and crossed her arms. "I'm still going to be looking for clothes I _hate_, and I don't exactly like your cousin much more than my sister, Arnoldo. I think I even actually prefer her."

Arnold smirked for a second but then forced it away. _I should get over this happiness of Helga not liking Aaron. Maybe it's still there because it seems like he's interested in her?_ He wondered._ But that shouldn't be a problem since she obviously hates him… but she still plays nice with him when other people are around. What is going on between them, seriously?_

"I think it'll be fine, Helga. Give it a chance. Maybe it won't be horrible if you just look at the bright side." Arnold suggested with a smile. "Oh, yeah?" Helga asked, put her chin on her palm and her elbow on the table. "Then give it to me, Mr. Brightside. What _is_ the bright side here?"

Arnold looked thoughtful for a moment before smiling again. "Aaron will _definitely_ not try to dress you up as a Lolita Doll." He answered proudly. Helga stared at him for a couple of second, trying to comprehend his words. She then lifted her hand in front of her mouth and giggled into it.

Arnold felt his proud smile get even bigger. _I really do like that giggle._ He thought. _Where have she been hiding it all these years?_

When Helga could feel her herself breathing regularly again, she nodded and held her hand to her heart. "Yeah, I-I hope so… We'll at least be looking at beautiful gowns rather than frou-frou dresses, I guess." She agreed and turned to look at him with a big thankful smile. "Thanks, Arnold, I feel way better now."

Arnold's smile wasn't supposed to be able to get any bigger, but it got at those words anyways. "You're welcome, Helga. I'm always here to give advice and to look at the bright side." He answered and held his juice box out to her. She laughed again and grabbed her own. "And may you always give advice and look at the bright side." She added and bopped her juice box against his.

Gerald and Phoebe watched in wonder, as Helga and Arnold kept talking. Gerald leaned a little closer to his girlfriend. "Tell me… do you feel something different between those two?" he asked in a whisper.

Phoebe leaned closer to him too. "Different? What do you mean?"

"Well… ever since that fight, haven't they been awfully… chummy? First with the obvious caretaking when Helga fixed Arnold's hat and he fixed her bow. Then they barely noticed us sitting in front of them while they talked all through lunch period. Now she sits on his lap, he doesn't mind, he gives her an advice that she's actually grateful for, and now they're toasting? What's going on?"

Phoebe glanced to Helga and Arnold who seemed to be laughing at something one of them said. Her smile picked up on one side of her mouth. "Well, I'll agree with you on something, Gerald." She said and looked back to him. "Something _is_ different."

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: So there you have it! In a way the two first blackmails. Shopping and a Rhonda party. Yikes! xD**


	9. I can believe on the bright side of this

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**As Phoebe is still trying to convince Helga that Arnold just might be in love with her too, Helga's mind is too occupied with the fact she is being blackmailed, which Phoebe started to suspect when Aaron had been about to ask Arnold "if he knew" something before Helga cut him short.**_

_**To Helga's pure misery, the first blackmail mission has already begun, and she is not only going to attend the party of miss. Rhonda Wellington Lloyd. She's also going out shopping with Aaron for a dress.**_

_**As all this went on Phoebe started to develop two theories to the odd relationship between her best friend and Aaron: 1. Either he knew about Ice Cream… or 2. He had a crush on her and wouldn't accept a no, just like Arnie.**_

_**By the end of that day, Phoebe started leaning more towards the latter.**_

**Author's 1st note: I'm not sure if I made the sentence above me clear in the last chapter (if you go back and read it, you'll see I've changed a line: "**_**Phoebe was starting to lean more and more towards the theory of Aaron crushing on Helga rather than blackmailing her"**_** Before it ended with "**_**more than anything**_**". I wasn't sure if I made it clear enough that Phoebe went away from the blackmailing theory there, so I figured I'd explain it here :P**

**Oh, and Gerald doesn't know Arnold has feelings for Helga. Arnold's never told anyone :P**

* * *

Chapter 9: "I can believe on the bright side of this"

When the day was over, Helga barely had the time to put her books into her bag before Aaron wrapped his arm around hers. "Hey! What did I say about - "

"Yeah, yeah, no touching. Who are you? Kuzco from 'Emperor's new groove'? Come on!" Aaron interrupted and pulled her up from her chair. The few people in the class that noticed were Arnold and Phoebe. They stood next to each other as they watched Helga being pulled out of the classroom.

"I don't get it, Phoebe," Arnold said and crossed his arms. "why would Helga put up with my cousin if she hates him, as much as she claims?"

"Maybe she doesn't hate him."

Arnold and Phoebe turned towards the voice that belonged to Gerald. "What do you mean?" Arnold asked with a small frown. "I'm saying maybe she _does_ like him. I mean, can you think of any other reason why she hasn't socked him yet?" he asked and crossed his arms thoughtfully.

Arnold's frown stayed on his face, but a small smirk did appear. "She _did_ practically strangle him the other day though." He corrected and started smiling while remembering her exact words: '_I picked him up by the throat with my arm and held him there for at least two minutes_!'

"Oh, so he has been introduced to Old Betsy and The Five Avengers." Phoebe observed thoughtfully. _Yet, he still seems interested in her._ She thought. _Is he a masochist?_

"Don't you think she could've lied?" Gerald wondered aloud. Arnold felt like strangling him at that. "What? Why would she do that?" he asked with hurt in his voice. He didn't like the thought of Helga lying to him, at least not about something like this.

Gerald shrugged. "I'm just saying… maybe she likes Aaron, but won't admit it because, you know, she's Helga Pataki, right? Maybe she just claimed that she did that to avoid you finding out the truth." He suggested.

Arnold could feel his breath get caught in his throat and he shook his head. "N-No way. I even saw the bruise on his neck, as she told me would probably appear." He said with a little bit of pride in his voice. He did actually see an obvious mark on his neck the day after. It was gone by Monday, but it had been there.

"You sure, it wasn't a hickey?" Gerald proposed with a suggestive smirk. Arnold turned to face him and slapped him on the chest with the back of his hand. "It was _not_ a hickey!" he said in anger, but there was a little bit of uncertainty in his voice. "I'm going home." He announced, grabbed his bag and went out of the room.

"… Ow." Gerald announced, mostly to remind Phoebe that he was actually just hit by _Arnold_ of all people. Phoebe rubbed the sore spot a little and smiled at him. _I'm sorry, honey._ She thought to herself. _But in a way you deserved that._

* * *

While that conversation went on, Helga was in the middle of being pulled through the hallway, before she stopped short and let her left leg out a little. As she had planned, Aaron tripped over her leg and fell face first to the ground beneath them.

"Ow!" Aaron exclaimed and stretched his arms to sit up again. He started rubbing his forehead as he turned around to look at a very smiling Helga. "Was that really necessary?" he asked. She nodded. "Oh, yes. I've been wanting to do that since you decided to make me you escort girl!"

Aaron sighed and stood up, a little wobbly. He knew he wouldn't have gotten out of that class without a bruise, but he didn't expect her to be so childish about it. Then again, could you predict anything about Helga?

"You're not an escort girl, Helga, you'd have to have manners to be that." Aaron corrected. Helga just rolled her eyes. "Well, then it's good I have higher ambitions in my life than being someone's wind-up doll. This is way too close to that to begin with!"

"You're pissed. I get that."

"Oh, you really think so?!"

"Calm down. I just wanted to tell you where to meet me tomorrow." Aaron explained and was about to go on, when Helga lifted a hand in front of her face to stop him. "Yeah, speaking of that. Uh… besides the obvious fact that I hate shopping and I hate the party I'm going to… then I seriously can't afford anything fancy."

That was a huge lie. Not only was the Patakis fairly wealthy – at least compared to a regular family – she also got a generous amount of allowance, so that her parents didn't have to worry about feeding her or giving her clothes.

Despite that, then Helga had no intention whatsoever of wasting her money on some big gown, she'd wear once in her life, when she could spend that money on so much else. Like some of the regular every-day clothes from the new Nancy Spumoni design. Aaron chuckled all of a sudden, pulling her out of her thoughts. "Don't worry about money, Helga, it's on me."

"… Excuse me?" Helga asked in incredulity. "I'm the one forcing you to this party. How would it be fair, if you were forced to buy a dress for it you'll only use once?" Aaron asked and crossed his arms with a smile.

Helga just blinked for a couple of seconds before shrugging. "You make a valid point." She observed. _Sucker._ She thought and shook her head a little in amusement. "So, where do you wanna meet and when?"

"I'm thinking tomorrow at that new shop that just opened?"

"What new shop?"

"Rhonda and Lila told me about it… Something about a girl named Spoon?"

"Spoon? What are you - Wait! A clothing store that just opened with a girl named… You mean Nancy Spumoni's?! That new one?"

"Yeah, that was it. Man, does that girl have a weird name.

"Now, hold on!" Helga said and put her hands up in front of her in a form of self-defense. "Th-That place is way expensive! Are you insane?!"

"I know it's expensive, but that's also pretty much the only store in all of Hillwood that sells dresses that would match the dress code." Aaron answered and shook his head. "That girls' got quality taste."

Helga felt like passing out again. "I've changed my mind." She stated and turned around. "I'd rather just tell Arnold I love him."

It was at this moment that Arnold stormed out of the classroom. He panted a little in anger and then kicked the wall next to him. "No… No way. Helga wouldn't…" he mumbled to himself, when he noticed some voices not too far away.

"Alright, go on and tell him. That's your choice." Aaron said with a shrug. Helga stopped and turned around to face him again. "What? Wait… is this some sort of game to you? To see how far you can push me before I - "

"I never said that." Aaron answered and put his hands up in mock defense. "I'm just saying that I can't stop you, if you're going to tell Arnold the truth."

_The truth?_ Arnold repeated in his mind and quickly sneaked behind a locker a bit closer to Aaron and Helga. "But… if I told Arnold…" Helga started to say and then gulped loudly. "then wouldn't that mean - "

"I guess it would, but to me that doesn't really matter. It's up to you if you want to keep this a secret or not. I don't really care. It's you who insist on the sneaking around." Aaron interrupted and crossed his arms.

_Keep this a secret? Sneaking around?_ Arnold repeated in his mind and then went wide-eyed._ Wait! Gerald couldn't possibly have been right… could he?_ He felt like he was going to be sick.

"Of course I want to keep it a secret! Arnold would freak if he knew how I felt!" Helga answered in frustration. Arnold could feel the lump in his throat get bigger at that. _Helga doesn't really have feelings for Aaron, does she?_ He felt his head get dizzy and he let his legs give in. He landed softly on the floor, while using the closet behind him as leverage.

"Why would he freak just because you're capable of being in love?" Aaron asked, and Arnold felt like crying. _In love?! They've known each other for not only a week!_ He pulled his hands up to his eyes.

"I'm Helga Pataki, that's why. I'm not supposed to have any positive feelings within me. Especially not for a boy." Helga explained and sighed a little. Aaron shook his head. "Well, that's up to you. So, will I see you tomorrow at Nancy Spumoni's?"

Helga sighed again and then nodded. "Yeah… that's better than having to talk to Arnold about my feelings." She answered and started to scratch her head. "Great. See you tomorrow then." Aaron said and went off.

Arnold could hear Helga walking off too and he started rubbing at his eyes. _Don't cry. Don't cry!_ He chanted in his head. _At least wait 'till your home! Where Aaron will be…_ "Shit!" Arnold exclaimed, grabbed his bag and just ran.

When Aaron could hear rapid footsteps behind him, he turned around. "Oh! Hey, Arnold. Wanna go grab a bite before we - "

"You do that. I'm going home." Arnold interrupted and kept running past him. Aaron turned to look at him. _What the hell is his problem all of a sudden?_ He wondered and then looked back at the direction he came from. _Wait, he didn't overhear me and Helga talk, did he?_

Aaron pursed his lips and looked at Arnold, who just opened the door and ran outside. "Whoops."

* * *

When Arnold came home, he almost forgot about the horde of animals that would usually storm out as soon as he opened the door. "Whoa!" he squawked and jumped to the side when his pig Abner, followed by who knows how many animals, ran out into the streets.

When the hallway was clear of animals, he went inside and closed the door softly behind him. He seemed to have run off the anger and was now left with the sadness. He threw his bag to the floor, before plumping down next to it.

"Welcome home, sweet… Arnold, what's the matter?" Stella asked, when she saw her son sitting on the floor, with his legs pulled close to his chest and his face covered in his arms. He didn't answer, but just made a muffled sound. Stella went to sit in front of him on her knees. "Come on, you can tell me."

Arnold sighed. "Remember Helga?" he asked. Stella smiled broadly. "Of course I remember Helga. If it hadn't been for her, you, your dad and me would still be in San Lorenzo. Why?" she asked. He sighed again. "I think she may be in love with Aaron…"

Stella's eyes went wide. "What!?" she yelped in shock. "Ow!" Arnold exclaimed, lifted his head and put his hands around his ears. "Mom! Don't scream in such a high-pitch voice, _please_!"

"S-Sorry. It's just… I was so sure that Helga was in love with… well, _you_." Stella replied honestly. Arnold crossed his arms and let his hands rest on his knees again. "I was… starting to believe so too, but…" he sighed heavily and stood up.

"I'm sorry, mom, I just… I just wanna be alone right now… ok?" Arnold asked with a sincere apologetic voice. Stella also went to stand up, while she nodded. "Of course, honey. Do you want me to bring you something?"

Arnold just shook his head while grabbing his bag. "No, thanks. I just… wanna be alone. When Aaron comes home, could you try and distract him from coming into my room?" he asked. "Yes, I will." She answered with a small and watched her son walk up the stairs.

Stella sighed and went back into the dining room. Miles was currently reading a magazine, but when he noticed his wife's less than sullen mood, he put it down. "What's going on?" he asked. She sighed as she sat down. "Apparently Helga seems to have feelings for Aaron."

"What?! But… B-But I was so sure that she had feelings for - "

"I know! Me too! But something must've happened. He didn't tell me what though. He wants to be alone, he said." Stella answered and groaned. "He's been in love with her for so long… Why didn't he just say anything?"

Miles had been about to give a reply, when a huge crash upstairs interrupted him. They both flinched and turned look outside and up towards the attic. "That… That came from… Arnold's room, right?" he said with a scared voice. Stella just nodded in shock.

"What the Devil's going on?"

Stella and Miles turned towards Phil, who just emerged into the room. "What was that crash?" he asked and looked up. "Probably Arnold…" Stella started. "… breaking something." Miles finished. "What!?" Phil exclaimed. "Why would he break anything?"

"To take out his frustration would be my first guess." Miles answered with a bit of sarcasm in his voice. "Why, of course! How could I be so stupid?! Of _course_ Arnold is breaking things because he's frustrated!" he said with an overly sarcastic voice and then smacked his forehead.

"What your son meant was, that Arnold is a little on the edge today, because he thinks Helga's in love with Aaron." Stella explained. Phil looked like he didn't understand what she said. "Typical," Miles muttered. "when I say something clever or romantic I'm _your_ husband. When I don't, I'm _his_ son."

Stella was about to give a clever reply, when Phil's growingly shocked expression stopped her. "What? How can he think that?" he asked in complete horror. "The girl's been crazy in love with him forever. Why would that suddenly change?"

"That's what we've been thinking, but something clearly made him think she's in love Aaron. But he went up to his room rather than telling us anything." Miles replied and glanced at his wife, who nodded. "Hmm…" Phil mumbled softly and started to walk out the room. "Where are you going?" Stella asked. "Where do you think?" Phil answered while walking up the stairs. "To knock some sense into that son of yours!"

"Typical," Stella muttered in a Miles-like voice. "when he's behaving as usual, he's _his_ beloved grandson. When not, he's _our_ son."

* * *

As Arnold went up to his room, he could his own two feet drag across the steps. He could hear some distant voices greeting him, but he didn't have the energy or the will to greet them back. He went straight up into his room and let his bag fall down to the floor.

Arnold walked over to his radio and turned it on to a random channel. "_… envy you. I'm a little bit of everything. All rolled into one_ - " He stared at it in disbelief. "_I'm a bitch, I'm a lover. I'm a child, I'm a mother_ - "

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me…!" Arnold mumbled and immediately changed the channel. "_Too young, too dumb to realize that I should have bought you flowers and held your hand. Should have gave you all my hours, when I had the chance_ - "

Arnold looked up to the sky. "Alright, Universe. _One _last chance, ok?" he agreed with himself and turned to a different channel. " - _I'm living a nightmare that keeps playing over and over again. Locked in a room, so hung up on you, and you're cool with just being friends._"

"Oh, come on!" Arnold shouted and lifted his arm. "_Left on the sidelines. Stuck _- " the song stopped immediately, when he swiped his arm across it and it landed on the floor, breaking. He started panting in pain.

_Damn… Fuck! This cannot be happening. This can NOT be happening._ Arnold begged in his mind and fell to his knees. _Wake up… Please, wake up…_

When he heard a static noise, he turned around to look at the radio. "_B-But if you got-go-gotta go, then you gotta know that it's kill-i-ing me, and all the things I never seem to sho-o-ow, I gotta make you see-ee._"

The lyrics of the song were mixed up with the static noise, but Arnold could still recognize this old song. 'I still love you' by Kiss. With a sigh, he crawled over to the radio. "_It hurts so mu-u-ch inside. You're telling me goodbye-bye. You wanna be free and know-know-knowing that you're gone and leaving me behind-hind. I gotta make you see_ - "

Arnold started trying to collect his radio again. It hadn't been broken completely and could easily be fixed. When it was, he listened to the final words. "_I still love you. I still love you. I really, I really love you. I still love you…_"

Arnold felt like he'd made a disservice to himself by fixing the radio. He was about to break the damn thing again, when someone knocked on his door. "It's me, short man. Can I come in?" Phil asked on the other side and opened the door.

"You're already in though." Arnold observed sullenly and put his radio down. "Oh!" Phil said and turned around to see the closed door behind him. "Well, what do ya' know. I really am." He observed with a big grin and went to sit on Arnold's couch.

Arnold himself kept sitting on the floor with his legs bend beneath his arms. "So… what happened today, Arnold, since you have gotten the crazy idea that Helga's stopped loving you?" Phil asked with a worried expression.

Arnold sighed. "I overheard her talking with Aaron and… she said, she didn't want to tell me about her feelings for him."

"Did she say those exact words?"

"More or less."

"I'm guessing less."

"Well, Aaron told her that if she wanted to keep _this'_ – whatever _this_ is – a secret or not, he didn't really care. _She's_ the one insisting on sneaking around behind my back apparently. Then she started yelling about how, _of course_ she wanted to keep it a secret to me, because I'd freak if I knew. Then he asked her how her being in love would be such a shock to me. She answered:' because I'm Helga Pataki', and that having to go shopping with him – which she hates – to buy a dress for a party – whose host she hates – is better than telling me about her feelings. Done."

Arnold dared to glance up at his grandpa, who was just sitting there, trying to comprehend everything he was just told. He started scratching his head thoughtfully. "So… Helga's hiding her feelings from you?"

"Yes! Can you believe that? One thing is that… is that of course I don't want hear about her being in love with another boy, but… b-but it also hurts to know that she trust me so little. Thinking I'll freak if I found it she was capable of being in love."

"Hmm… did she ever say that she was in love with Aaron?"

"Huh? Uh, well, no, not technically, but it was pretty - "

"Well then, there you go! You misunderstood what she was saying. Problem solved." Phil declared and stood up. "No! Problem _not_ solved, grandpa!" Arnold disagreed. "Dang." Phil mumbled and started to walk towards him as he kept ranting. "How can you be so sure?! Why else would she hide her feelings from me?"

"Why are _you_ hiding _your_ feelings from _her_?" Phil asked and sat down again, this time behind Arnold on his bed though. Arnold turned to face him and frowned. "Because she's Helga, that's why!"

"And you're Arnold! Now, that we've established your names, then would you mind answering the question?"

"Because… I don't want to risk losing what we have now, if she doesn't feel the same."

"Ever wondered if Helga's fear is the same, short man?" Phil asked. Arnold's eyes went wide for two seconds. "Well… I-I guess that would make sense, but… but then what's Aaron's part in all of this?!"

"How am I supposed to know? I'm just an old coot, but a guess would be that he knows about her feelings for you."

"Huh!?" Arnold exclaimed. "She would rather tell my cousin than _me_? No way! She keeps her feelings locked up in that big… gol-golden heart of hers. There's no way she'd just throw it out at a stranger like that."

"Any chance he figured it out himself?"

"How is that possible?"

"Aaron is a bright kid, Arnold. You are too, but you're also dense."

"Gee, thanks."

"Don't kill the messenger! I'd say that Helga being in love with you is as obvious as the sky is blue, and just because you refuse to realize that, that doesn't mean Aaron wouldn't. If not, he could also have found out by accident."

"Accident?"

"People overhear stuff. That might be what happened."

"Then… Then wouldn't he tell me?"

"Maybe he promised to not tell anyone, or maybe he won't spill someone else's secret. Geez, Arnold, you were such a saint as a child. Now, you're all grown up! Expecting people to play tattletale about the girl you love. It's those bad instincts again!"

Arnold laid his chin upon his knees. "I have to blame puberty for that." he mumbled. "Atta boy!" Phil said and smacked his grandson on the back. "Also a part of growing up: Blaming your problems on others."

Arnold coughed a little and twisted his arm around to rub the spot. "You know, for an almost 90 year old man, then you still hit pretty hard…"

"Uh-bup-bup! What did I tell you about mentioning my age?" Phil asked with a pointed finger and one eye closed. Arnold smirked a bit. "Probably: Don't eat raspberries?" he suggested, and as if on cue, Phil's stomach began to rumble. "Ow, my stomach!" he whined and went out of the room.

Arnold chuckled a bit, before Phil stuck his head back into the room. "But the only way you'll really know anything about what Helga thinks and feels… is to talk to her! Tell her your feelings, short man; she just might feel the same!"

With those words left in his wake, he closed the door behind him. Arnold sighed as he could hear the footsteps of his grandpa running down to the toilet. "Easy for you to say…" he mumbled. "It's not like you've ever had to deal with a Helga…"

Arnold's eyes went wide with realization. "Wait a minute. Yes, you have!" He proclaimed and stood up. "Grandpa!" he called and went out of the room. He ran down the stairs as he kept calling for Phil.

When Arnold reached the bathroom, he was about to knock on the door, when a flyswatter beat him to it. He yelped and went back a few steps, only to see his grandma with her usual safari hat on. "Oh, it's just you, grandma. Uh, I mean Bwana."

Arnold's grandma just hushed him though. "I almost have my prey, Kimba. I need to go…" she stopped to aim at the fly in front of her. "for the…" then she lifted her arm. "kill!" she yelled and tried to swat it, but it flew away from her unharmed.

"Good luck with that, Bwana. I just need to talk with… Hey, wait!" Arnold said when he remembered his purpose of coming down to begin with. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Of course, Kimba, we should always let the prey feel safe before killing it anyhow." Gertie answered and pulled off her safari hat. "So, what did you want to talk about, dear?"

"Well… did you and grandpa know each other, when you were kids?"

"Oh… yes, yes. We were at the same school. Same class really."

"Yeah? What… was your relationship like?"

"Oh, uh…" Gertie started and then looked embarrassed for a second. An emotion Arnold had never seen on his grandma. "We weren't very good friends actually. I teased him quite a lot."

"Y-Yeah? And… why did you do that?" Arnold asked with a mix of hope and nervousness in his voice. "Hmm, why _did_ I do that…?" Gertie wondered aloud and closed her eyes to think. "Oh!" she exclaimed and snapped her fingers. "That's right! I was in love with him. That was it, yeah."

Arnold could feel his heart start to beat at a ridiculous pace. "Then… why did you bully him, grandma? Why didn't you just tell him that you liked him or just be nice to him?"

"Well, I was quite shy back then. I also already had this rumor of being kinda tough. Being in love didn't really match that image, but even so I couldn't leave him alone, so I figured bad attention was better than nothing at all. Besides, what fun would it be if I made it easy for him?" Gertie asked with a big grin and giggled. "Gotta keep him on his toes!"

Arnold smile picked up particularly at one side of his face. "Huh… I guess that's one way of looking at it." He mumbled, feeling the sadness slowly melt away. "Of course it is, Arnold! What fun would life be without some schemes here and there? And let's admit it:" Gertie said and bend forward. "Your grandfather can get a bit grumpy from time to time. So a little fun will keep him more cheerful."

Arnold just kept smiling and nodded. "I guess life would've been a lot more boring without Helga around…" he mumbled to himself and felt a slight blush across his cheeks. "Thanks, grandma." He said, hugged her tightly for a second and then went on his merry way.

"Oh, and, dear?" Gertie said. Arnold turned around, still with his smile glued on his face. "When you and Eleanor get married, then expect your bachelor party to be full of surprises. I think she and I can make it quite fun." She said with a mischievous smile and walked into a room.

"Huh?" Arnold said, his smile disappearing. "How in the… Grandma! How did you know that - " He was interrupted by the manically laughter of Gertie though, and he just gave up with a shook of his head.

As Arnold descended the stairs, his thoughts were flowing around in his head. _If Helga and I are anything like grandma and grandpa… That would mean we would wind up dating someday. A-And not just dating… Getting married, having children, grandchildren…_

Arnold shook his head and then clapped himself repeatedly on his cheeks. "L-Let's take it one step at the time, ok?" he begged himself. He nodded and continued his way down the stairs. "Dating would be a huge step in the right direction to begin with. A very welcome step."

When Arnold got into the dining room, his mother, father and cousin were sitting together. "Oh! Hi, Arnold." Stella greeted with an unsure smile. Aaron turned around. "Hey, cuz. Want some ice cream?" he asked and gestured to the box of different types of ice lollies.

Arnold bent forward to browse the ice cream before him. His eyes naturally fell on a blue and pink striped ice-lolly and he grabbed it with a smile. While he unwrapped it, he didn't notice the obvious satisfied smirk of Aaron. _Well, didn't take him long to bounce back. I wonder if he's realized already?_

"Sweetheart?" Stella asked. Arnold turned to look at her with his mouth wrapped around the tip of his ice cream. She made a smooth hand gesture, begging him to come closer. He bent down and let his ear close to her mouth. "Is… everything alright?"

Arnold gave a big smile and nodded with hesitation. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is. At least right now I'd like to believe that I don't have anything to worry about. I can believe on the bright side of this." He answered and turned to Aaron. "Want to come upstairs and play some games?"

Aaron looked surprise for a second, but then smiled. "Sure, cuz." He answered and stood up. "Thanks for the ice cream, Stella and Miles. We'll see you at dinner."

As Arnold and Aaron went out into the hallway, Stella and Miles turned to look at each other. "Well… we were worried for nothing." They declared as in a choir, and then started laughing.

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: Ok, first things first: The songs.**

**Meredith Brooks – "Bitch"**

**Bruno Mars – "When I was your man"**

**Hot Chelle Rae and Demi Lovato – "Why don't you love me?"**

**Kiss – "I still love you"**

**Now that the crediting is out of the picture: As Arnold says in the end, he still doesn't really know what to do about this reawaken uncertainty of the whole thing between Aaron and Helga, so don't start believing he's done feeling a bit miserable. He's just happy about the current turn of events and decided not to dwell upon it for the moment. What good would that do after all? xD**


	10. What's the plan?

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**Arnold couldn't believe his own ears, when he overheard Helga say to Aaron, that she'd rather go shopping with him than ever telling Arnold about her feelings. Thinking she's talking about her feelings for his cousin, he runs home, crushed.**_

_**With some help from both his grandpa and grandma, he started to feel a little better. Much better really. He realized there was no reason to worry about it for the time being, when he wasn't even sure what was going on.**_

_**Arnold doesn't have a plan for what to do next though.**_

**Author's 1st note: Woohoo! First chapter with two digits xD Why does that thrill me? *-* I don't know! Because I'm weird, I guess :P Let's go!**

* * *

Chapter 10: "What's the plan?"

"No! I've changed my mind!"

"You can't change your mind! It's not up for debate, Helga!"

"The Hell it isn't, Phoebe! The solution to my problem is simple! Don't go to school! Don't make me go in there!"

If one had been there this Thursday morning, one would have seen Helga Pataki stand with her feet firmly planted to the ground and her hands clutching desperate to a lamp pole, as her best friend, Phoebe Heyerdahl, tried to pull her away from it.

"Come on, Helga!"

"No!"

"What if Arnold comes and sees you like this?" Phoebe wondered aloud. Helga's grip on the lamp pole went weak at the mere idea of Arnold seeing her behave like the ten-year-old girl, she could still be on the outside rather than just the inside. When her grip got week though, that meant Phoebe's grip on _her_ got stronger and they both tumbled backwards on the concrete.

"Ow!"

"Ow!"

"Oh, god, Phoebe! For one with a black belt in karate, you should have been able to dodge me better." Helga exclaimed and immediately rolled off Phoebe to lay down next to her. Phoebe sat up with a smile. "For one with a black belt in karate, it is my duty to make sure that you didn't get hurt because of my mistake."

"_Your_ mistake? I was the one letting go of that fucking lamp pole."

"And I was the one to pull you down with me."

"… You know what? Since getting together with Gerald, you're a lot more argumentative." Helga said with such a monotone voice, that Phoebe wasn't sure how Helga felt about that fact. She smiled though. "I like it. Way to go, Phoebs. Kudos!"

Phoebe gave a big smile. "Arigatō, Helga-san." She said. Helga cocked an eyebrow. "That means 'thank you', right?"

"Hai!"

"And that means 'yes', right?"

"Yeah, it does."

"Hey! I do know a little Japanese after all." Helga said proudly and sat up. "Though, I never did understand why you put 'san' at the end of my name?"

"Oh, that's just a proper way to- "

"What in the world are you two doing?"

Phoebe and Helga forgot their conversation and looked up to see no one else but Arnold and Aaron hovering above them, both with an amused smile. "What?" Helga asked, crossed her arms behind her back and laid back down. "It's a free country, isn't it? We can lay wherever we want! Isn't that right, Phoebs?"

Phoebe giggled, crossed her arms and laid down next Helga. "Yes, we are free spirits." She answered. "Don't gay it up." Helga reprimanded with a smile. The small group laughed for a moment.

"It's time for class now, girls. How about we get you standing up like normal people?" Aaron suggested and was obviously about to try and help Helga up in particular. Arnold was quicker though and reached his hand down to her first. "Let me help you up, Helga."

Helga's smile spread across her face and she took Arnold's hand without hesitating. Even if Aaron had been quicker, she'd naturally chosen Arnold's hand. She swung her legs up a bit, so that she could make an elegant jump while getting onto her feet.

"How come you always seem to be here, when I'm on the ground, Arnoldo?" Helga wonder aloud and gave his hand a small, involuntarily squeeze. Arnold shrugged and squeezed back, very voluntarily. "Don't know. Maybe it's faith?"

"Oh, brother, does that mean you'll always be here to help me get back on my feet?" Helga asked and took her hand back to use it to dust off the back of her clothes. Arnold gulped inaudibly. "Y-Yes, I am." He said as certainly as he could.

Arnold had decided that morning that it was time to turn it up a notch. No matter whether Helga and Aaron were together or not, until Helga said to him face-to-face that she wasn't in love with him or that she was in love with Aaron, he'd use any trick in the book to get Aaron out of the picture. Even dirty ones. As far as he was concerned, when it came to Helga, it was almost a given that dirty tricks should have to be involved.

Helga froze mid-movement and glanced towards Arnold again. For what seemed like forever, but really only lasted a few seconds, they just gazed into each other's eyes. _Wh-What is this? _Helga wondered nervously. _What is this odd vibe I get from him? As if he's made this big decision after having an epiphany or something._

Helga didn't know what else to do, so she revolved back to her comfort zone: Teasing. "Oh, man!" she exclaimed and started bumping her elbow at Arnold's arm. "Does that mean I have to look at that wide head of yours for the rest of my life, football head?"

Arnold just gave a big smile. "Yeah," he answered and swung his arm around Helga's neck in a crushing, sideways hug. "you're stuck with me forever!"

Helga and Arnold started laughing hysterically, as she tried to get out of his grip. While those two walked away in their struggle, Phoebe and Aaron were staring at them with smiles on their faces. "Is it just me," Aaron whispered into Phoebe's ear. "or do those two look awfully chummy?"

When Phoebe turned to look at him, Aaron's smile had faded away completely. He seemed very unsatisfied with his own statement. She didn't care though. He was right: Helga and Arnold had become great friends lately and hopefully, that would soon lead to something more.

Phoebe nodded. "They really do. It's also been a long time coming." She answered. It usually wasn't in her nature to say the things, she wished to say at this moment, but what _was_ in her nature, was to help Helga in any way she could. And she still wasn't sure what Aaron's intentions were. "They're meant for each other."

Aaron cocked an eyebrow at Phoebe's statement. "Meant for each other? I don't know about you, Phoebe, but I don't exactly believe in destiny." He answered. Her eyes narrowed. "What _do_ you believe in?"

"Good old-fashioned falling in love, falling out of love, and falling in love with someone new. No one loves the same person for the rest of their lives."

"Maybe not most people, but some _do_."

"And is Helga one of them?" Aaron asked. Phoebe had been about to practically scream 'yes' in his face, but reminded herself that she still didn't know if Aaron knew about Ice Cream. She ended up shrugging.

"If not even her _best friend_ is sure, then- " Aaron was about to start walking towards Arnold and Helga, when Phoebe grabbed his sleeve. "Wait." She asked of him and he turned around with an intrigued smile. "What?"

"… I don't know what your intentions are with Helga, but let me tell you one thing: You're wasting your time. Whether Helga's interested in anyone else doesn't matter. She's still not interested in _you_."

Aaron gave an amused chuckle. "Look who's got claws all of a sudden." He observed. Phoebe's eyes narrowed a bit. "I mean it, Aaron," she said and let go of his sleeve. "I don't know what you want from Helga, but whatever it is she has already made it quite clear that she's not interested. Besides, as her best friend I would know something as simple as that."

Aaron just chuckled a bit again and bend down a bit to Phoebe's eyelevel. "People have the right to change their minds," He said in a quiet voice and glanced a bit in Arnold and Helga's direction. "and so do I."

"Huh?" Phoebe mumbled, as Aaron straightened his back again. "Wait… What do you mean by that? What are you changing your mind- "

"Hey, guys! Arnold just had a brilliant idea!" Helga interrupted and started running towards them with Arnold behind her. "Another one?" Aaron asked with a regular smile. "Boy, you're just full of them, aren't you?"

Arnold shrugged. "I do aim to please." He said as he made an obvious glance towards Helga. She rolled her eyes for about a second as she giggled. "Looks to me like you aim to please _some_ people more than others?" Aaron wondered aloud and made eye contact with him. He could see Helga frowning at him in the corner of his eyes though.

Arnold, in the meantime, still didn't know what to think about this obvious hint from Aaron. _Is this his way of saying that he's seen right through me? That he knows I'm in love with Helga?_ He thought with a small frown. _Then what does that mean? Is he declaring war or something against me?_

"What is this brilliant idea of yours, Arnold?" Phoebe asked as she felt the tension rise. "Oh," Arnold said as if coming out of his stupor. "I just suggested that since I know that Gerald needs a new tuxedo and I do too, and I think that being a girl you would probably want a new dress anyhow, Phoebe, and then I got the logical conclusion: How about all five of us go out shopping together?"

Whether Aaron realized it or not, this was Arnold's personal declaration of war. There was no way he'd give him and Helga a chance to be alone together if he could manage to sneak himself or maybe even someone else in.

This was a perfect excuse, and when he thought about the way Helga's face brightened up at his suggestion, then it was pretty obvious she didn't mind him interfering with her alone time together with Aaron at all.

Aaron gave a smile no one could really identify. "And Helga said yes?" he asked. Helga crossed her arms in a challenging way. "As Arnold said, it was a logical conclusion. We'd might as well all go together, since, as you said yourself, Nancy Spumoni's is the only shop in town that sells clothes fancy enough to satisfy Rhonda." She answered with a proud smile. "Those three are gonna go to the same store anyhow, so why not just go together?"

If Helga wasn't already in love with Arnold - and it therefore was obvious she would want to do this to him anyway - when he had suggested all five of them shopping together, she could've kissed him in pure joy. She almost did really.

Aaron gave a pensive look. In reality he was thinking about something else. _Very impressive, Arnold, looks like you've got your game on all of a sudden. I'm intrigued. This could turn out to be the absolute most interesting shopping spree in my life._

"Sure. I don't see a problem with that. The more the merrier." Aaron finally answered. Both Helga and Arnold had to contain their happiness as smiles spread across their faces. For once Helga felt so happy that she could kiss… no, _touch_ Aaron, without feeling sick. _Maybe_.

"Great. So we'll meet here after school, right?" Helga asked while looking mostly at Arnold. "Of course we will. I'll tell Gerald about our plans before school's over." He answered and turned around to look at the big school clock. "Speaking of school…" he mumbled and took Helga's hand in his. "We're gonna be late!"

Helga had been ready to go into an internal monologue as soon as she felt Arnold's hand wrap around her own - not to pull her off the ground for once - but when he announced they would be late, she quickly caught up with his pace and was running next to him. She turned her head over her shoulder. "Come on, you two!"

Aaron and Phoebe looked at each other for a second, shrugged and then started running behind Helga and Arnold. Helga could feel a giggle escaping her throat. There was something oddly thrilling about running for what felt like dear life with her hand in Arnold's. He turned around to glance at her as they ran, and his smile indicated he felt the same way.

When Helga and Arnold - with Phoebe and Aaron a few feet behind them – reached the door for their classroom, Arnold ripped it open with an almost loud crash. Both teens were panting while smiling, as they scanned the class. Everyone was sitting in their seats, gawking at them, including the teacher.

"Uh, s-sorry we're, uh…" Arnold started as he tried to steady his breath. "Late. Sorry we're late." Helga announced, equally with her breath hitching in her throat for both giggling and running like that at the same time. Arnold turned to look at her and smiled appreciatively. "Yeah, that's the word I was looking for."

Helga looked back and smacked him gently on the chest with her free hand. "It's not such a complicated word, football head." As she said that, Phoebe and Aaron appeared behind them. "Hey, how about going in, you guys?" Aaron suggested and started pushing their backs gently.

As Arnold and Helga came in more and more view of the rest of the class, the class' eyes dilated. All four of them noticed immediately. "What?" Helga and Arnold asked. "You guys look like you've seen a ghost." Helga declared.

"A ghost would make more sense…" Sid observed with big eyes. "Yeah, I reckon you two holdin' hands is the weirdest thing I've ever seen." Stinky chimed in.

"Huh?" Helga and Arnold said at the same time and turned to look at each other, then down to their hands. They had both known all along that they were holding hands, but it was almost as if they didn't realize it truly until this very moment. They both felt similar butterflies soar through their stomachs, and pulled their hands away from each other's and hid them behind their backs.

"D-Don't get the wrong idea, you nimrods!" Helga exclaimed and crossed her arms in the typical Helga-like manner. "We realized we were gonna be late and since Arnold's legs are way too short, I just pulled him along, so we wouldn't be late! Hmph."

Arnold rolled his eyes. _Typical_. He thought and was about to say something, when he noticed she was slowly walking in front of him to get to her seat. When no one could see her face from that angle, she flashed him a smile and a wink, and then went to sit down.

Arnold just stared into the classroom where Helga had been standing a minute ago, when she haf winked at him. _Did she just…?_ He thought to himself and felt an almost familiar smile at this point creep up on him.

Before he could fully indulge in that smile, the teacher addressed him. "Please sit down, all three of you. Don't be late again." She asked of them and turned around to the blackboard again. Phoebe and Aaron hastily snuck in, while Arnold had to force his legs to move again. He sat behind Helga and took a deep breath. _Suggesting to go shopping together may just be my best idea yet._

While Arnold was as peachy as could be, Helga felt a form of panic dwell inside of her. _Oh… my… God! Why did I do that?! What could have possessed me to wink at him? Winking at Arnold – Am I insane or something? _She rolled her eyes in a dramatic way.

_Oh, wait, yes, I am! That's why I monologue about him, and that's why I'm being blackmailed rather than just telling him my feelings! There's no way even Arnold is dense enough to believe that was friendly! Is there even such a thing as a friendly wink?_ She ranted in her head and felt like slamming it repeatedly into a wall. _Criminy, I'm a basket case!_

* * *

When the first recess started, the bell barely started ringing before Gerald was already crouching next to Arnold's desk. "Jesus, Gerald! You scared me." He exclaimed when he turned around and saw him.

"Time to come clean, Arnold: What's going on?"

"Huh? What's going on with what?"

"With you and Helga!" Gerald answered and smacked the back of Arnold's head in frustration. "Ow! What was that for?" Arnold asked and started to rub the sore spot.

"For keeping me in the dark for this long, man, now tell me: What's going on with you and Helga G. Pataki?!"

"Could you say that a little louder, Gerald, I think some of the seniors upstairs didn't quite hear that." A female voice said. The two boys glanced towards Helga's desk, which was right in front of Arnold's.

"I wasn't talking to you, Pataki." Gerald said with a snarl. "You were talking _about_ me and not exactly in a whisper, tall hair boy. Want your conversation to be private?" she asked, snapped her fingers and pointed towards the door. "Go and have it in a private place!"

Gerald groaned and wrapped his arm around Arnold's. "Come on! Let's follow Mrs. Grumpy's advice." He declared and pulled him up from his chair. "Am I supposed to be insulted at being called 'Mrs. Grumpy' despite you guys following my advice? Do you even know me?" Helga asked as the guys left the room. Arnold did turn around for a second though, she noticed, and smiled at her joke.

Almost as soon as Gerald and Arnold came out into the hallway, Gerald started talking. He didn't stop walking though. "I can't believe you still put up with that girl!"

"What about you? You usually put up with her too."

"Because she's my girlfriend's best friend! Which I, still to this day, don't get!"

"That's only because you insist on not seeing her good sides."

"That's because they're hidden beneath all the nasty ones!" Gerald answered. Arnold started scowling and pulled his arm back. Gerald almost stumbled at the force. "What the hell- "

"Would you stop talking about Helga like that already?!" Arnold shouted with so much anger in his voice that Gerald got scared for a second. "Listen, I know she's not ever-so sweet like Lila and she's not gentle like Phoebe, but she's still a really kind-hearted person! That's why Phoebe and I _put up_ with her! And if you got your head out of your ass, you'd realize that!"

Gerald was beyond stunned. He kept staring at Arnold, as he panted. Yelling like that was not something he usually did, so he could already feel his throat sting a bit. When his own words repeated themselves in his head, his eyes went wide and he unclenched his fists. "Uh, s-sorry, Gerald… I didn't mean to sound so mad. I just- "¨

"N-No, I get it… Phoebe once yelled at me too for the same reason, so… I guess maybe I do have my head in my ass." Gerald observed and straightened his back a little. Arnold could feel his shame spread in the pit of his stomach. _When did I become this protective of her?_

"Nevertheless, Arnold, since Aaron arrived… is it just me or did something change between you two?"

"Huh?" Arnold mumbled and looked into the eyes of his friend. "Uh… w-well, does it look like that? Really?" he asked with a bit of hope in his voice. Gerald saw that and nodded. "And… you seem awfully happy about that fact?"

"Oh! Uh, well, I, uh…" Arnold started but then decided to give up and sighed. He started rubbing his neck, as he always did when he got shy. "I guess… it's time to admit this. Just… don't freak out, ok?"

Gerald quickly put up his hand in defense. "Wait!" he exclaimed and looked around. When he noticed an open door into the janitor's closet, he went inside. "Come on."

Arnold rolled his eyes as he followed him. When they got inside, Gerald closed the door and then sat down on a big chest inside the room. Probably filled with tools of some sort. "Ok, just needed to sit down. What is it?"

"Want me to just spring it at you or want me to ease in on it?"

"… Spring it."

"You, uh , sure? You don't usually handle things like this very- "

"Say it!"

"I'm in love with Helga!" Arnold exclaimed. As soon as the words left his mouth, he could feel the pressure rise in the room. Gerald didn't seem to understand the words that had just been said. "Wait… huh? You… I thought you were just developing a crush!"

"It went way pass a crush years ago!"

"What!? Hold on! Years ago?! Since when did you start liking her?"

"Uh… honestly? I think it may have started when… uh…" Arnold felt like he was gonna be sick with both love and nauseousness. "Perhaps when I was… three?" He gave a nervous chuckle, but went still right after. Gerald's face was a mix of shock and disgust. "For thirteen years?! But… how is that even… I mean… Explain yourself!"

"O-Ok, li-listen. It's not like I've known all this time or anything. Just… hear out my theory, ok?"

"_Theory_?! You've got a theory?!"

"During the whole San Lorenzo thing I got to know Helga a lot better. I saw some sides in her that I always knew was there, but I'd never seen before. When we came home and things kinda went back to normal… I can't explain it. I just felt this… really huge sadness in my heart, and I couldn't explain it, so… I tried to really sit down and think about it."

"… Uh… huh?"

"So I started to think about not just San Lorenzo, but about a lot of things. Like why do I always put up with her bullying, why do I insist that she's not so bad, etc. etc… Then it hit me: I'm in love with her. At first I was about to go back into denial. I was seriously freaking around. I swear, my parents and my grandparents must have thought I was going insane up in my room, because I just locked myself in there and walked around."

"Sounds… so not like you… Yet, realizing you're in love with _Helga_ would probably do that to any other guy."

"The reason I was freaking out wasn't because of that! It was because it didn't feel as strange as I had thought. Almost like my body was telling me: 'Come _on_! Your heart's been saying it forever and it took your brain this long to realize?!' or something. So then I tried understand why I had been in such a ridiculous state of denial for so long… _Because_ Helga is _Helga_!"

"… I'm sorry, Arnold, you lost me. You're saying that as if that means something else?"

"Think about it, Gerald! Helga's been bullying me for as long as I can remember, yet, I've never held a grudge against her. I kept insisting she was good and that I wanted to be her friend. You know why?"

"Because you… were secretly in love with her?"

"Yes! But I didn't know that, and why is that?"

"I don't- "

"Because my subconscious wouldn't let me!"

"… You gotta explain that a little."

"Ok, this is something I actually tried to study. Apparently, when a human develops a feeling that might hurt them in the end, sometimes the subconscious stops the human from feeling this emotion. That's what happened to me: My subconscious denied me to feel I was in love with Helga, because I was sure she hated me. When we got closer in San Lorenzo, I started believing she might love me back and my subconscious let me feel my feelings for her for the first time. Isn't that amazing?"

Gerald blinked a couple of times before answering. "Dude," he said in wonder. "your subconscious is a bitch."

Arnold rolled his eyes. "Yeah, my thoughts were like that too back when I read about that. Then again maybe I should thank my subconscious. It did try to help me, I guess. If not, I would've been hopelessly in love with Helga for much longer. Or rather known for far longer."

"… You sure it just isn't the Stockholm syndrome?"

Arnold turned to scowl at him. "Very funny." He answered. "No, I'm serious." Gerald said and straightened his back. "Gerald…" Arnold scolded him. Gerald lifted his hands in mock defense. "Alright, alright. True love it is."

Arnold felt a tint of a red blush creep around his cheeks. "T-True love? Now, Gerald, do you want my heart to… Wait! You're right!" he exclaimed in shock. "What!? Arnold, have I lost you?" Gerald asked.

"No! That's not what I mean! I haven't told you this yet, but I found out how my grandparents met!" Arnold said with a happy smile and took a step closer to Gerald. "Get this… They were _just_ like me and Helga."

"… Huh?" Gerald asked in incredulity. "I'm serious!" Arnold said, feeling like dancing around. "They went to the same school. To the same class. My grandma picked on grandpa all the time! Calling him names, pranking him, blaming him for stuff. She's a Helga! You know, just, a 1920's version."

"Whoa, so your grandpa was under the influence of the Stockholm syndrome too?"

"Gerald!"

"Must run in the family. Tell me, how did your parents meet again?"

"Gerald, I'm serious- "

"Now, wait, hold on! You said you realized your feelings for Helga when we came back from San Lorenzo, yeah?"

"Uh, yes."

"And that was back in fifth grade, right?"

"Again: Yes."

"… We're in high school now, Arnold."

"… Want me to confirm that too?" Arnold asked with a cocked eyebrow. Gerald jumped off the chest with an angry expression. "Why did it take you this long to tell me?!"

Arnold stared at Gerald in shock. "Wh-What?" he mumbled shaken. "Why did it take you almost six years to tell your best friend that, not only you have a crush, but you are _in love_ with a girl? Helga or not: That's not ok! You've always known about my feelings for Phoebe. Why didn't I know the same thing about you?" he asked with a bit of hurt in his eyes.

"Oh…" Arnold mumbled and gulped a little. "Well, to be honest: Through all of sixth grade I was still trying to get used to it _myself_… A-After that I guess I was just… scared of your reaction. I mean, I know you don't like her- "

"How does my opinion matter?"

"Huh?"

"If you're in love, then you're in love. If you didn't like Phoebe, I would've been like: 'Well, screw you! _I_ do!' Get it? This is why nothing's happened between you and Helga yet! You're too scared of other people's reactions; Including hers."

Arnold could imagine himself standing there dumbstruck, as a huge rock with the words 'epiphany' landed on his head with a huge crack. "Wait," he said and gestured between them. "what's with the sudden words of wisdom?"

Gerald punched Arnold's shoulder lightly. "Being around Phoebe's been rubbing off on me, I guess." He answered with a shrug. "Yeah," Arnold answered and started rubbing a little on his shoulder. "it is."

Gerald started smiling, but then he frowned. "Wait… when did you find out about your grandparents?"

"Oh, grandpa actually told me the story some years back, but I didn't know his bully was my grandma until last night."

"… How could you not know that?"

"Simple: He didn't tell me."

"Then, what? He told you the story calling your grandma: 'My bully'?"

"No! He… called her Gertie."

"… Gertie? As in your grandma's name?"

"I _know_ I should've realized, but back then I had a lot of other stuff on my mind and I- "

"How could you _not_ have realized that?!"

"Gerald! You've been my best friend for years, and yet I apparently need to tell you this: I'm dense!"

Gerald firstly snorted and then broke out in a hysterical laughter. "Arnold, I don't think it was just your subconscious holding you back from knowing you were in love with Helga… I think it was your denseness too!"

Arnold sighed heavily but still smiled nevertheless. "Maybe it was a mix of both?" he suggested with a shrug. "Yeah, maybe." Gerald agreed and nodded. "This doesn't really answer my question though."

"Oh, right. Uh… what was it again?"

Gerald rolled his eyes. "What's going on with you and Helga right _now_?"

"Oh, uh… I guess what's happening is… Aaron is going after her too, so now that I have a rival, I'm trying to give it my all."

Gerald started nodding. "Yeah, I've been suspecting he has the hots for Helga too." He said thoughtfully. Arnold's face fell. "So you think so too? Damn…"

"Oh, don't worry, my main man," Gerald said and swung his arm over Arnold's shoulders and squeezed him a bit with it. "now that _I_ know, I can help you!"

Arnold felt that he could hug Gerald just at that. He would have, if he wasn't locked in that iron grip of his. He could feel a huge load fall of his shoulders after finally telling his best friend his secret. "So," Gerald started. "what's the plan?"

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: I don't technically **_**know**_** for sure if the subconscious is THAT strong, but I do know it's very strong! One of my friends wanted to be pregnant so badly, that her pregnancy test was positive. She took like three of them (different brands even) to be sure: All positive. When she went to the doctor with her fiancé, he told her she wasn't pregnant. She was crushed and didn't understand it. When she went to another kind of doctor, he told her that her body even started developing the same hormones as if she was pregnant. Gaining weight, period stopping, everything. It was all because she wished for it so badly that her brain tricked her body. True story! So I figured: If that's possible, how the hell could this not be? xD This seems more likely to me really!**


	11. You are one cunning girl

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**Arnold declared war against his own cousin, when he decided that it was time to step it up a notch: He would never give up on Helga. Thanks to his quick thinking, he managed to sneak himself, Gerald and Phoebe in on Aaron's and Helga's shopping spree this very afternoon.**_

_**When Arnold and Helga walked into the classroom, hand in hand, Gerald pulled him outside to ask what was going on. After a long awaited talk, Arnold finally admitted his love for Helga to Gerald who took it surprisingly well. He even promised Arnold to help him win her heart.**_

**Author's 1st note: How typical: My favorite number ends up being the number of the chapter, when the first blackmail mission starts: The shopping spree. Isn't the Universe just hilarious? xD Can't even begin to describe how much I've been looking forward to this part of the story. So much lovely rivalry between Aaron and Arnold and so much lovely awkwardness between those two and Helga here. Enjoy! :3**

* * *

Chapter 11: "You are one cunning girl"

By the time the school day was over, Gerald had been informed of every single thing Arnold thought could come in handy this day. "Just leave it to me, buddy, I'll be your wingman, and I'll be cockblocking Aaron _so_ bad!" Gerald whispered into Arnold's ear as the gang was on their way to Nancy Spumoni's.

Arnold wrinkled his nose a bit. "Thanks for the 'cockblocking' comment, Gerald, now I feel _really_ secure." He mumbled in a whisper. "What are you talking about?" Gerald asked. Arnold creeped a little closer to keep his voice low. "It's not like I measure up to him in that area!"

"Huh!?" Gerald exclaimed a little too loudly, gaining the attention of both Phoebe, Helga and Aaron who was walking in front of them. "You guys ok?" Aaron asked with a cocked eyebrow. "Yeah, yeah, we just, uh… saw a pigeon." Gerald explained weakly.

"A pigeon? Why would you freak out over pigeon?" Helga asked with her eyebrows raised. "Because…" Arnold started and looked around as if the tiles beneath him would spell out the answer for him. "Because I was sure it looked like one of Pigeon Man's pigeons."

"How can you recognize a pigeon?" Phoebe asked. "When you own pigeons yourself, you can." Arnold explained with confidence in his voice. That was after all true. He could recognize his own, though the chance of recognizing all of Pigeon Man's pigeons was rather slim.

Helga stared at them in disbelief for a second before shaking her head. "Weirdos." She mumbled and turned to look at Phoebe again. "Anyways, as I was saying, Phoebs- "

"Nice save." Arnold whispered with an edgy sarcasm in his voice. "Hey, it went just fine, didn't it? Besides, your sudden talk about 'measuring up' caught me off guard! What the hell was that about anyway?" Gerald asked.

"Well, come on, Gerald, Aaron's half African!" Arnold whispered. Gerald straightened his back and cocked both his eyebrows. "Something you trying to tell me, my brother from another mother?"

With that question Arnold was reminded the color of his best friend's skin. "Oh, come on, it's not like I mean anything by it, but I've seen you when we shower after gym. Let's face it, if we tried to compare ourselves to each other, who do you think would win?"

Gerald frowned, and Arnold couldn't help feeling a little proud: It didn't happen very often that he could make Gerald feel embarrassed of all people. Usually _Arnold_ was the one to feel embarrassed.

"You're in a mighty good mood, aren't you, Arnold?" Gerald asked sarcastically and sighed. "Where the heck did this talk come from?"

"Hey, _you_ started with the whole '_cock_blocking' thing!"

"You're the one who twisted it into something perverted!"

"How is the word 'cockblocking' not perverted to begin with?" Arnold asked in a form of self-defense. Gerald punched his upper arm lightly. "You know what I meant."

"… Yeah, I do. Sorry, sorry. My thoughts have really been in the gutter lately."

"Lately?"

"My hormones' been running wild…" Arnold admitted, feeling the familiar embarrassment creep up through his spine and into the back of his head. Gerald glanced towards Helga. "And I suspect _she's_ the source of it?"

Arnold nodded as he was also looking at Helga. "It's gotten really bad ever since the food fight."

"Since the… Oh! Yeah, I get why. Landing on top of her like that, and don't think I didn't notice you slipping your mouth between her boobs!"

"That was an accident, I swear!"

"Yeah, yeah, tell your subconscious desires that."

"Well… it's not like I'm complaining but… that's not really the only reason."

"What else is there?"

"We went into the bathroom to clean up, remember?"

"Oh, man, I can't wait to see where this is going."

"Long story short… I kinda saw her in her bra."

"What!?"

"Her pink… bra with… black laces." Arnold described and felt the image roll around in his head. "Careful imagining Helga like that or you'll be having a _guy-problem_." Gerald whispered into his ear. Arnold immediately shook his head and even slapped his cheeks a couple of times. "I'm fine!" he then declared loudly.

Helga, Phoebe and Aaron turned around again, all of them with equally confused and amused expressions. "Yes, Arnold," Helga said in a calm voice, as if talking to a child or someone mentally disadvantaged. "you _are_ fine, just the way you are." Then her voice went back to her normal tone. "But why did you feel the need to tell us that all of a sudden?"

Before Arnold could think his actions through, he turned to look at Gerald with begging eyes. Gerald frowned and felt like smacking his best friend for the dumb act. Helga started laughing. "What, you have to ask your support teacher first or something?"

Still laughing, Helga turned around again to talk with Phoebe. Gerald smacked the back of Arnold's head yet again that day. "Ow! Why do people keep hitting me?" Arnold asked and started tendering the sore area.

"Because you're an idiot who's dense and doesn't think his actions through before acting!"

"… Seems fair." Arnold decided and let his hand fall to his side again. "By the way," Gerald said and lowered his voice to a whisper. "who took Helga's shirt off exactly?"

"H-Her! She did! Helga did it herself!" Arnold said in a small panicky voice. Gerald laughed a little. "Figures, but I wanted to make sure. Bold move from Helga G. Pataki. So, you thinking it's a good thing?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean do you think that: A, you're so much in the friend zone that she doesn't even care if you see her half-naked, or B, that she - in her own way - wanted you to see her like that?"

"Well, obviously I'm hoping for the latter. No matter which, she was doing it on purpose."

"… Yeah, because, you know, people usually take off their shirts by accident!"

"Not what I meant! I mean, she knew _exactly_ how I felt during the whole thing! She was doing it to tease me."

"… Hmm… that could just be Pataki being Pataki." Gerald mumbled pensively with his eyes closed. Arnold sighed at that reminder. "Yeah, she's been really good at hitting the right buttons when it comes to me. Why would the teenage years be any different?"

"Ok, that's it!" Helga announced all of a sudden, looking at Aaron who was smirking at her. "I don't wanna listen to your talk about finding some short and tight dress anymore." She stopped in the middle of the street, forcing Arnold and Gerald to walk to each side, trying not to ram into her. "I'm walking with these two now, at least their conversation seems to make Arnold react funny."

Helga started walking in-between the two boys, much to Arnold's happiness – it did mean he could avoid any unnecessarily embarrassing conversations with Gerald for the time being – while Gerald got an obvious wingman idea.

"Nice timing, Helga, I feel like talking to my girl right now anyways, so you guys are on your own." Gerald flashed Arnold a quick and secret wink, before picking up his pace to walk between Aaron and Phoebe. He wrapped his arm over Phoebe's shoulder, which made her giggle.

"God, she's a sucker for that boy." Helga observed with a crooked smile. "And he's a sucker for her." Arnold added with a just as crooked smile.

"They're both suckers."

"Yeah, but they're our suckers."

"Can't argue with that, head boy. So, what are you going to be looking after at Nancy Spumoni's?"

"I'm not really sure. My parents insisted that I bought a new tuxedo or whatever I felt like. The old one is getting a little small, so I guess I'll buy whatever I come across."

"I like a boy who knows what he wants." Helga said with a sarcastic dreamy voice. Arnold rolled his eyes. "Well, what are _you_ going to be looking for?"

"A dress, obviously!"

"What kind of dress? Short, long? Frilly, smooth? Long sleeves, sleeveless?" Arnold asked, knowing very well Helga hadn't given a single thought to such things. As he expected, she just shrugged while pursing her lips. _Damn, I really haven't thought this through._ She mumbled inside her head.

"I like a girl who knows what she wants." Arnold said with a just as sarcastic voice as Helga before and batted his eyelashes at her. She pushed him away from her playfully. "Ugh, _fine_, you win: I'm just as indecisive as you. Happy?"

"Yes. Wanna know why?"

"I guess." Helga answered with a confused smile. Arnold lifted his arm casually and laid it over her shoulders. "Because then we can be indecisive together." He answered with an honest smile, but couldn't help the teasing glint in his eyes.

Helga felt a serious blush try to creep out on her cheeks. She managed to keep her beating heart in check and just chuckled a bit. "Oh, great, as if that's not a recipe for disaster. We'll be in that damn shop forever."

"We'll be there together forever."

"Yeah, yeah, you love me, Arnold, I got it already. Sheesh!" Helga said with sheer sarcasm in her voice, but just saying those words made her heart beat faster than the pace of her feet on the concrete.

Arnold's eyes went a little big at that joke. _This could be the perfect segue._ He gulped a little before opening his mouth. "A-Actually, Helga, that's not entirely- "

"There it is!" Phoebe exclaimed cheerfully and pointed ahead. "Oh, my gosh! Come on, Helga!" She reached out to grab Helga's hand and pulled her away from Arnold's arm, not realizing he even had it around her. As the girls ran away, Arnold felt like taking out his anger at Gerald and therefore smacked his back a little too hard.

"Ow! What gives, man?!" Gerald asked and turned around. Arnold leaned close to him to whisper into his ear. "Your girlfriend just cockblocked me!"

"What?! No way!"

"Yes way! I was just about to confess, when she decided to squeal like Rhonda whenever she sees a new fur coat! It was the perfect moment too!"

"Man, I'm sorry." Gerald said and gently patted Arnold's back. He sighed. "It seems to be happening a lot lately. I tried not just once, but _three_ times after the food fight. Every single moment was interrupted by either Aaron, the janitor or Mrs. Smith!"

"… You officially have the most rotten luck when it comes to the ladies, Arnold."

"That's what I'm afraid of, Gerald, but with Helga it's different. I _can't_ lose her the same way with every other girl I happened to crush on in the past. It's simply not an option. You gotta help me. I obviously can't do this alone."

"Of course. I'm with you all the way."

"Except if your girlfriend is nearby?"

"A minor slip-up. Could've happened to anyone."

"Uh-huh, but it had to happen to _my_ wingman."

"Have you guys forgotten that I'm here?"

Gerald and Arnold immediately turned around to look at Aaron who was looking at them with an amused smile. "How long have you been standing there?!" Gerald asked with big eyes. "For as long as the girls went away." Aaron answered. "Did you see me running off with them? No? Then maybe that's why I'm still here."

"Listen here, you arrogant, cocky - "

"Gerald!" Arnold stopped Gerald with a slap on the shoulder before he could start a serious rant. It was their own fault anyway. Aaron hadn't done anything wrong. Except trying to go after Helga, but that wasn't something anyone could control.

"Ok, Aaron, please listen." Arnold said and turned to look at Aaron who was currently putting his hands into his pockets. "Yes?" he asked.

"… We have a problem."

"What's that?"

"I'm in love with Helga, and you're… making your move on her, though I don't really know why." Arnold admitted. It was true: He didn't know if Aaron had feelings for her or if he just wanted her for other reasons. The mere thought of Helga being thought of as a sex object made Arnold cringe on the inside.

Aaron smirked and crossed his arms. "Do I have to explain everything to you?"

"No, you don't, I also don't really care how you want Helga, but let me tell you this: If you end up hurting her in any way… my cousin or not: I _will_ hurt you in return."

Aaron started chuckling. "Oh, look who finally has a set of balls. Congratulations, Arnold," he said and smirked maliciously. "I guess I can take this is a declaration of war?"

Arnold straightened his back. "Yes." He answered with such a serious tone that one would think, he was ready to kill to win this particular war. "Then it's on, but let me warn you, Arnold, I'm not scared of using dirty tricks." Aaron warned.

"Neither are we." Gerald said and wrapped his arm over Arnold's shoulder. Aaron lifted his eyebrows. "Oh? So it's two against one. Clever, Arnold." He said and started to walk towards the shop. "I guess the first dirty trick is yours."

Arnold frowned and looked at Gerald, who frowned back. "Arnold, don't fall for that trick. He's trying to give you guilty conscience. Of course you have me on your side! If this was New York, he'd have his friends on his side!"

"M-Maybe, but… in a way he's right. This is _my_ fight, not yours." Arnold said with a forlorn expression and sighed. He snuck his shoulders out of Gerald's arm and looked at him with a smug smile. "_But_ you _are_ here with your _girlfriend_, aren't you? Who's to say you wouldn't want to spend as much time with her as possible, leaving her almost no chance to hang all over Helga?"

Gerald gave an equally smug smile back. "You know what, Arnold? Falling in love with Helga has made you quite good at schemes." He said and lifted a fist. Arnold bumped his fist and together they made their old handshake, as they had done since preschool.

"No way!"

Gerald and Arnold looked towards the familiar voice and saw Helga storming out of the shop. She was stomping towards them, as Phoebe tried to grab her hand. "Helga, come on, it's just part of the procedure."

"Hell no! That's way too private! I am _not_ doing that!"

"What's going on?" Aaron asked as he walked away from the shop. He'd been about to walk through the door, when Helga walked out. She was already standing in front of Arnold and Gerald, when she turned around to look at Aaron with Phoebe holding her wrist. "That creepy guy in there pulled out a tape measure and wanted to measure almost every part of my body!"

"Helga, this is a high-class shop. If the dress doesn't look perfect on you, their customers will think they don't know what they're doing. Which means if the dress you want need alterations, they will do it with or without your consent."

"Exactly! In every other clothing store, you can just buy your junk and go home! Why must he know every single one of my body numbers?"

"Why is that so bad?" Gerald asked. Helga turned around with a scowl. "Because it's _my_ body! I don't need random people to know every single detail about it! Besides… it's just too… awkward having a stranger touch me like that. There, I said it. Happy?"

The group was quiet for a second. In a way they all agreed with her. Most people just went on with it anyway, but Helga didn't even want this dress to begin with, so it was hard to think of a way to convince her.

"Well, how about one of us measure you instead?" Aaron suggested with a seemingly innocent face. Helga frowned. "Are you crazy? I'm gonna be standing in my bra and panties only!" she exclaimed. "Pervert!"

Aaron rolled his eyes. "I was thinking of Phoebe doing it, _you_ pervert." He explained. _Damn_. He thought despite his own words. Helga glanced towards Phoebe. She started smiling. "Of course, Helga, we can measure each other. That way we'll also be done faster."

Helga sighed heavily and then smiled a bit. "Ok. I guess that's better. Fine, let's do this." She decided and started pulling Phoebe after her. Arnold took a huge step forward and smirked at Aaron. "She was right though, wasn't she?" he asked. "You suggested that, so _you_ could measure her, right?"

"You're smart, Arnold. Unfortunately, so is Helga. This would be so much easier if she was dumb as a stump, but then she wouldn't be Helga, right?"

"Way to go, Aaron, not creepy or perverted at all."

"Oh, let's be honest, Arnold, shall we? As if you wouldn't want to take Helga's measurements if she asked?" Aaron asked with a cocked eyebrow. Arnold felt a familiar heat rise on his cheeks and his lower abdomen at the mere image of Helga standing in front of him with a measure tape between her hands, wearing only her underwear and a smirk. He pushed the image away. "I-It's not about what _I_ want. It's about being a gentleman and treat her with respect. She's not a piece of meat."

"No, she's not, but that doesn't mean _we_ aren't hunters." Aaron pointed out and started walking towards the shop again. "Guy's got a point." Gerald observed and started walking himself. "Not helping, Gerald." Arnold answered and started walking beside him.

When they got closer to the shop, Arnold noticed the sign for the first time. It was written with big, curly, almost calligraphic letters. Looked a lot like the font called 'Edwardian Script' you could choose in a Word document.

"I have a feeling this place is way out of my usual budget." Arnold mumbled under his breath and went into the store after Gerald. "Man! This place is huge!" Gerald exclaimed. Arnold stepped to the side and his jaw dropped to the floor. _Huge?!_ He repeated into his head. _This place is bigger than the boarding house!_

And indeed, Nancy Spumoni's newest shop in Hillwood was the biggest clothing store in the whole city. With two floors, a male and female department, there was no way no one could not find the perfect dress. The décor of the place was in a way a bit dark. Most furniture around them was made of mahogany tree and padded with red fabric. The walls were red like most of the furniture, but there was a sort of black pattern on it. Mostly consisted of endless lines of branches and leaves, with the occasional bird or butterfly sitting or flying around.

"Whoa." Gerald and Arnold mumbled together and stepped inside. "So, guys, I was thinking that you would go to the male department first, since you'll probably find what you're looking for faster than we will." Phoebe said with her hands clasped together. "Then you can come down here and join us, ok?"

"Sounds like a plan." Gerald stated and went towards the escalators. "You girls gonna be alright?" Arnold asked mostly towards Helga. She rolled her eyes with a smile. "This place may be big, but I don't think we'll got lost, Arnoldo. Don't worry." Her words had been sarcastic but her eyes were playful. Arnold just smiled back and went to join the boys.

* * *

As Phoebe had foreseen, the guys were already fully finished after 15 minutes and came to join them downstairs. "Excuse me. Where did the cute Asian girl and the loud blonde one go?" Gerald asked the stylist with a teasing smile in Arnold's direction.

"We're in the fitting rooms, tall hair boy!" The 'loud blonde one' answered from across the store. Gerald shrugged. "In case you didn't know 'till now, she _is_ loud, and she's got ears like a hawk." They boys started walking towards the fitting rooms.

"You guys found everything you needed?" Phoebe asked as she stepped out the fitting room. Gerald had been about to answer, when he glanced towards her and saw the dress she was wearing. "Uh… y-yeah…" he just mumbled with big eyes.

Phoebe was dressed in a knee-long, bright blue dress, with a black belt tied beneath her chest. The dress was strapless and shaped neatly in two waves over each one of her breasts, almost as if creating the upper half of a heart. On the right breast, the fabric was shiny, just like the skirt of the dress, but the left one was decorated with tiny diamonds, creating a certain spark to the dress. As a finishing touch there was a white and blue diamond-shaped brooch stuck on the left side of the belt.

Phoebe gave a shy smile. "Him being quiet means it looks good, right?" she asked a little uncertain. Arnold and Aaron looked at Gerald who just kept staring with wide eyes at his girlfriend. After giving each other an agreeing nod, they turned back to her and answered together: "Definitely buy this one."

Phoebe looked like a small girl at Christmas eve. She felt all giddy inside. "Well, then we just need to see if Helga's finished. Helga?" she called. "Uh… I really hate this dress, Phoebs." Helga answered from inside her fitting room. "Really? That's odd. The dress the stylist gave me looks beautiful." Phoebe said and walked to the other fitting room. "Can I peak?"

"Sure, just don't let the boys see me like this ugly thing." Helga inside from inside the fitting room. Phoebe pulled the curtain to the side just a bit to look. "Oh my!" she said in an amused voice. "Told you so! Get out!" Helga shouted and pushed at her hand.

Phoebe pulled the curtain back and turned around, doing her very best to conceal her laughter. She held one arm around her stomach and a hand on her mouth. "Is it that bad?" Aaron asked with an intrigued smile. Phoebe nodded.

"I look like a freaking cotton candy cupcake!" Helga answered from inside the fitting room. "A cotton candy cupcake?" the boys repeated and looked at each other. "This, I gotta see." Aaron declared and walked towards the fitting room.

At his point, Phoebe had tried so very hard not to break down with laughter that she didn't even notice Aaron walking past her and pulling the curtain a bit to the side. "What are you doing?!" Helga shouted and pulled the curtain right back. "Get out!"

Aaron turned around, biting his lower lip. "Whoops." He mumbled and walked back to the guys. "What?" Gerald asked, finally getting over how beautiful Phoebe looked in her dress. "Uh, she was already in the middle of taking the dress off, so…" Aaron started and stopped next to them. "I only saw the cotton candy part of the cotton candy _cup_cake dress."

Arnold clenched his fists. "What does that mean?" he asked. Aaron smirked a bit. "She had already pulled the torso part down." He shrugged. "Whoops."

Arnold felt like punching Aaron at this very moment, and Gerald could easily see that. "Calm down, Arnold." He whispered and put his hand on his shoulder. "Calm down?!" Arnold repeated in a low voice. "He did it on purpose!"

"I _know_, but we can't do anything about that now, can we? We just gotta be more careful with this pervert." Gerald said and let go of Arnold's shoulder. Arnold took a deep breath to calm himself and nodded. _I'm watching you now, Aaron, I am not gonna let you take advantage of Helga like that._

When Helga got out of the dressing room, she was dressed in her normal clothes again. She was holding a big, fluffy, frilly, frou-frou dress in her arms though. "Tell the stylist to send this hideous thing back to Candy land where it came from!" she asked Phoebe, who took the dress with a smile. "Sending!" she answered and started walking away.

Arnold and Gerald looked at the dress. Arnold felt like frowning and laughing at the same time. In a way, it would've been fun to see Helga in something like that, if only for the laugh. It looked like something from a Barbie magazine.

"Oh, and, Aaron?" Helga said with a sugar sweet voice. "Yes, baby?" Aaron asked with an equal sugar sweet smile. "I'm going to find the most expensive dress in here as punishment for peeking on me. That's ok, right?" she asked and batted her eyelashes. Before he could answer, she was already walking in the same direction as Phoebe. "Oh, Mr. Stylist!"

Arnold and Gerald turned to look at Aaron. "Why is her buying an expensive dress a punishment to _you_?" Gerald asked. "I'm paying for whatever dress she finds here." Aaron explained casually. "What?!" both boys shouted in unison.

"Why?" Arnold asked. "Because I asked her to this party, she doesn't have enough money herself, and I believe it's common courtesy to pay for your lady in any way possible." Aaron explained with a charmingly fake smile. Gerald frowned. "Not enough money? But Helga's family is - "

Gerald's mouth was immediately covered by Arnold's hand. Gerald removed it and looked at him in disbelief. "What the heck?" he asked. Arnold didn't answer, but just bend forward with a smug smile and looked at Aaron. "You do realize she's just punishing you for forcing her to this party, right?"

"I know. Helga's cunning. This about peeking was just an excuse, I think she was planning to find something expensive here anyway."

"If you knew that, then why did you offer her to buy her a dress?"

"Because I just want her to find a dress she's happy with and then come to the party with me. Besides, I can afford it." Arnold answered with another smug smirk. Arnold frowned. "Helga's not a girl who's impressed with money or wealth. If you don't know that by now, then you don't know her at all."

"She may not be interested in fancy dresses, elegant dining or sophisticated culture, but there are other things money can buy. Like that trip to Paris she's always wanted." Aaron told while remembering Helga's story about confessing her love for Arnold to Dr. Bliss. She'd screamed about how she wanted to travel the world with Arnold, but mentioned Paris in particular.

"Wait, she… wants to go to Paris?" Arnold asked. _Why did she never tell me that? Why does Aaron know and not me?_ He thought and felt his mood fall more and more. "Yes." Aaron answered as if it was obvious. "You didn't know that?"

Before Arnold could answer, Helga and Phoebe came back from talking to the stylist. Helga was walking rapidly, clutching a bright pink dress closely to her chest. "No peeping!" she warned, went into a fitting room and closed the curtain behind her.

Phoebe snickered at Helga's warning and went to stand with the boys. "She wouldn't even let _me_ see what she found." She admitted with a smile. "Really? So, she likes it, I presume?" Gerald asked. Phoebe nodded. "I think so. She found it herself, asked for the price and then took it."

"It's expensive, I presume?" Aaron asked with a smile. Phoebe shrugged. "It's not the most expensive thing here, but it's pretty close. Though, I don't think that's why she likes it." She answered honestly and turned to look at Arnold. His face still looked a little sullen, but he was doing his best to brighten his mood.

* * *

After some minutes, the group began to both worry and got impatient. "Helga, are you alright? Are you done changing?" Phoebe asked. "Uh, y-yes." Helga answered from inside the fitting room. When that was all she did, Phoebe took a couple of steps closer. "Can we see you?"

"Uh… w-well…"

"Does it at least look good?"

"That's what I'm unsure of… Could you come in here, Phoebs?" Helga asked with such shyness in her voice, that the group got worried. Phoebe glanced towards the boys for a second, before walking to the fitting room. She opened the curtain and peeked in. "Whoa!"

The boys had a hard time standing still. The obvious excitement in Phoebe's voice indicated that Helga looked stunning. "Whoa good or whoa bad?" Helga asked. "Whoa extremely good!" Phoebe answered. "Helga, this dress looks perfect on you! Well, except for the chest area."

"Yeah, my boobs are practically falling out." Helga answered with a small laugh, but mostly with annoyance. The boys reacted different ways at that statement. Aaron smirked broadly, Gerald rolled his eyes and Arnold felt that familiar heat in his private area.

"Can we see it already?!" Gerald asked impatiently. "No!" Helga shouted. "I-I mean… You'll see it on Saturday anyway! What's the rush?"

"Oh, come on! You guys can't stand there talking about how gorgeous you look in it, and then not show it to us!" Aaron chimed in. "Fine! We'll stop talking then." Helga said with pride in her voice. The boys groaned in defeat. "Damn, she's clever." Aaron mumbled.

Phoebe closed the curtain and went to join the guys again. "Is it good?" Gerald asked. "It's not good. It's perfect. It looks so beautiful on her. I almost feel bad for you guys that you have to wait 'till Saturday." She answered with a teasing smile.

At those words, Helga walked out of the fitting room, still clutching the dress closely to her, covering it with her arms. "Man, you really don't want us to see that dress, do you?" Gerald asked sulkily. "Not after the alterations, no." Helga answered and clutched the dress closer. "I'm going to go the stylist and talk about the changes."

Helga went to walk over to the stylist and left the rest of the group. "Well, I should change out of this dress too." Phoebe announced and started walking towards the fitting room. "That's almost a shame. You look so beautiful in it." Gerald told her with a big smile. She turned around, still walking backwards and gave a big smile back. She then walked into the fitting room.

"Well, I better go join Helga, since I'm paying for her dress. The alterations will be expensive too, so I gotta know how much money I'm spending on this _one_ date." Aaron said with an evil gleam in his eyes. "I'll see you at home, Arnold."

"Oh, no, you won't. I'm staying here with you and Helga. We can walk her home together." Arnold demanded and crossed his arms. Aaron turned around, still smiling. "Stubborn, aren't we?" he asked and crossed his arms too, narrowing his eyes a bit. "Maybe even more than you." Arnold answered, also narrowing his eyes.

"Hey, Aaron, you gotta pay for the… What's with you two?" Helga asked, when she noticed the odd mood between the two cousins. "Uh…" Gerald started uncertainly. "It's… a boy thing. You wouldn't understand."

Helga turned to look at Gerald with a cocked eyebrow. "Oh, _now_ I'm a girl? Back when we were kids, I was too much of a boy to get invited to a girls' slumber party!" she said in incredulity. "Yeah, well… you _are_ still a girl." Gerald answered with a shrug.

Helga rolled her eyes and turned to look at Aaron again. "The stylist wants to talk to you about the price." She said. "Sure, what _is_ the price?" Aaron asked. Helga smirked. "Why don't you go find out yourself?" she asked. He rolled his eyes and went to talk with the stylist.

Helga giggled evilly. "Just wait 'till he finds out about the price." She whispered to Arnold and bit her lower lip in anticipation. They couldn't hear what they were talking about, but it was obvious when Aaron was told the price. He turned around to look at Helga in a mix of disbelief and wonder. "Boy, you meant it when you said you'd find the most expensive one!" he observed and turned around to the stylist again.

Helga giggled in such a malicious way, Arnold and Gerald had to glance a little uneasily at her. "How expensive is it really?" Arnold asked. She smirked as she stopped her giggles, though it was hard. She held up her hand and showed five fingers. His eyes went wide. "Five thousand?"

"Five _digits_." She corrected with a huge smile. "Helga!" he exclaimed. Gerald's mouth was just formed into a big O, as Arnold had to hold his mouth not to scream at the huge number. He couldn't help but both feel a bit bad for his cousin, but he also couldn't help feeling a little gleeful. "That's not ok. That's way too much."

"Hey! I warned him, and I wanted to punish him. It's him who wants me at this stupid party and offered to buy me the dress anyway. I might as well have a little fun with it, right?" Helga asked and crossed her arms with a smirk.

Arnold shook his head in amusement. "Helga, you are one cunning girl." He stated with a tint of impressiveness in his voice. She turned to poke his nose. "And don't you forget it." She said as if to warn him about the future. And he just smiled at that.

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: I was planning on showing you guys the dresses I used for reference to Phoebe and Helga's dresses, but FanFiction doesn't allow links, so... I guess if you really want to see them, then go to my profile here on fanfiction, then choose to go to my youtube channel or deviantart account and write me a message there, telling me you want to see the dresses, then I'll sent the links xD**


	12. You are one bold kid

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**When the whole gang went to buy dresses and tuxedos at Nancy Spumoni's, Arnold verbally declared war against Aaron, who accepted their new rivalry with ease. Gerald turned out not to be much of a wingman though, when his own girlfriend stopped Arnold from telling Helga about his feelings – Yet again.**_

_**Helga refused to show the boys' the dress she decided to buy – not even Aaron, who was paying for the very expensive dress got to see it – but Phoebe confirmed that Helga looked just gorgeous in it. Everyone seemed to be looking forward to the party, even Helga, after having a small revenge on Aaron by getting him buy her a dress with the price of five digits.**_

**Author's 1st note: You can still contact me on deviantArt or YouTube if you want to see the dresses, I used for Phoebe and Helga. Oh, and Arnold may seem a little out of character here and there, but let's face it: Wouldn't competing for the girl of your dreams make you willing to stretch your morals a bit? xD**

* * *

Chapter 12: "You're a bold kid"

The Friday after shopping at Nancy Spumoni's went by in a flash and as Helga feared, when she was finally supposed to get ready for Rhonda's party, she was panicking. She was sitting in front of her one mirror in the entire room and was staring at her face. She turned around to look at her dress, which she had laid gently on her bed. She turned around to her reflection again. Then the dress. Reflection – Dress – Reflection – Dress. Until she finally screamed, while clutching her head and then ran over to her phone that was on the nightstand.

"Oh, hi, Helga, how - "

"I can't do this!"

"Ow! Helga, please, don't scream into my ear."

"Sorry, Phoebs, but I'm really freaking out here. I don't know what to do. I-I'm not a girly girl and I don't know what to do about the makeup or my hair or my… my… my personality! Yes, that's right! My personality is a big problem! Rhonda will kick me out of this party immediately."

"Well, you don't really want to be there to begin with, so would that be such a huge problem?"

"Yes! Because then Aaron would be unsatisfied and he will… he will… Ugh, Phoebs, just… just trust me when I say that I _need_ to go to this party. There simply isn't an option here."

"… Ok, I'll just trust you, though I don't like how much influence Aaron has on your choice."

"Me neither, but I can't tell you about it until he goes home to New York. For now, let's take it one step at the time. Firstly: My hair and my makeup. What do I do?!"

Phoebe sighed on the other end. "Ok, Helga, how about I tell Gerald to pick me up at your house and then I'll come over now and we can get ready together. Sounds good?"

"Sounds wonderful, Phoebe, thank you so much. Really."

"You're welcome. See you in a few."

"Yeah, see ya'." Helga said and hung up. She sighed in relief and let herself fall backwards onto her bed. "Whatever would I do without that girl…?" she wondered aloud with a big smile. "I would walk around like a headless chicken, that's what."

* * *

Some hours later, Arnold and Aaron started to get themselves ready. Arnold had been the one to think the most about what to buy the other day, when they went to Nancy Spumoni's, out of the boys. In the end, he didn't just want a regular tuxedo. He didn't like to admit it, but the reason for that was that he wanted Helga to be surprised by his appearance: She'd already seen him in a tuxedo a million times.

Arnold ended up buying a pair of black jeans, a black belt, a black vest with two pockets in it, a black tie and a white dress shirt to go beneath the vest. Not much different from a tuxedo, except for the lack of sleeves, but it still gave a rather nice look on him. Besides, there was a small part of him that wanted to show off his arms. Playing baseball for so many years did good to him, and he didn't want to cover his toned arms and torso up with a black jacket. As a finished touch, he replaced his usual blue had with a Charles Chaplin hat.

"You look like something taken out from a silent movie." Aaron said behind him, as Arnold tied his tie with a Windsor knot. Arnold just smirked and turned around. "And you look like something taken out from a bad boy band music video."

Aaron was dressed in a pair of white jeans, black shiny shoes, a vest much like Arnold's just in white and a golden necklace hanging around his neck. He tucked at the collar of his vest. "At least boy bands are popular with girls." He said as he skimmed Arnold's outfit again. "Can't say that about silent movies."

Arnold just decided to roll his eyes and turn around. He finished tying his tie and then shook his body a little. He felt nervous. A Rhonda-party wasn't anything new, but Helga was coming along this time, and that was something new and something to be nervous about.

He was excited to see her in her gown. He'd been wondering the last one and a half day what it would look like. He knew it had a faint shade of pink, a bit like her bow but lighter, and that was about it.

He knew she would look beautiful no matter what she wore, but he still couldn't help feeling giddy inside that she actually liked the dress herself. It would make it ten times more beautiful knowing that.

"So, what's the plan about transportation?" Aaron asked and sat down on the couch. Arnold turned around. "Transportation?"

"Yeah, I mean, Helga's gonna be walking in high-heels I presume, and Rhonda lives kinda far away to be walking in those things."

"Well, I don't know what _you're_ gonna do, but I was planning to pick up Helga in my grandpa's Packard." Arnold asked with a smug smile. He didn't like doing stuff like that, but Aaron had already green lighted dirty tricks. This was definitely one.

Aaron's mouth went wide open and he started laughing. "So, I'm gonna be stuck walking, huh?" he asked and let his chin rest in the palm of his hand. "Whoa, when you declared war you were serious. Way to go."

Arnold couldn't help but smiling a bit proudly. It faded when Aaron pointed out something. "But I wonder if Helga wouldn't find it a bit strange?" he suggested. After thinking for a bit, Arnold just shrugged though. "I'll just tell her that you wanted the fresh air."

"Yeah, she's very likely to believe that. Man, for a guy who's known as a saint around school, you sure are cunning. It's Helga's influence, isn't it?" Aaron asked, when Arnold's landline phone began to ring. "That," Arnold answered and went to answer the call. "and as my grandpa calls it: My bad instincts."

Arnold pushed the speaker button, so that he could put on his black shoes as he talked. "Hello, this is Arnold." He answered and sat down on his bed. "Hey, Arnold!" Gerald's voice spoke on the other end. "Hey, Gerald, what's up?" Arnold asked and started pulling his shoes on his feet.

"Listen, Phoebe just called me. Turns out she's over at Helga's to get ready together, so she asked me if I could pick her up at Helga's."

"Figures. And what does that have to do with us?" Arnold asked and started tying his left shoe. "Well," Gerald started. "I asked Phoebe how Helga was planning on getting to the party, and Helga said she had no clue. So I suggested I'd pick you guys up and then we could pick the girls up together. Sounds cool?"

Arnold's shoelaces suddenly got extremely tight around his foot. "What?!" he exclaimed and then Aaron started laughing. "Oh, this is great! You two are really not in synch! Oh, my god!" he said between his laughter.

"What? What's going on?" Gerald asked on the other end. "Gerald, not only your girlfriend, but now even _you're_ cockblocking me!" Arnold answered with a roll of his eyes and retied his shoelaces.

"Huh? How?"

"I was planning on picking Helga up in grandpa's Packard and leaving Aaron to take care of himself. Now you ruined that."

"… How was I supposed to know that you thought up something that brilliant?! Man, I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you. I'll pick you up in ten, ok? Ok. Bye." And with those words Gerald hung up with shame and embarrassment in his wake.

Aaron finally stopped laughing. "A-All things aside, Arnold…" he started and picked a tear away from his eye. "I do feel a little bad for you. Gerald's not much of a help, is he?"

Arnold sighed and put his chin in his hand. "To be fair, then I didn't really tell him about this plan of mine. I just made it up on the spot, so…" he said with a crooked smile. The two cousins looked at each other for a bit and then started laughing.

"Can I be frank with you, Arnold?"

"I guess."

"I'm glad that this whole… fighting over the same girl isn't affecting our relationship as much, as it usually would. I mean, we still laugh together and can see the fun in things. I appreciate that. For real." Aaron said earnestly.

Arnold pulled his chin away from his hand and gave an unsure smile. He then nodded slowly. "Yeah… I appreciate that too, actually. You still suck for going after Helga out of all the girls at school you could've picked, but you're not a bad guy in general. I hope?"

Aaron shook his head. "I'm not as rotten as I may seem." He put his hand on his chest. "I swear." He pulled his hand away again with a smile. "Not a lot of boys could still consider themselves friends with this going on between them. If we had been girls, we would've killed each other by now."

Arnold started laughing at the sheer image of two girls living under the same roof _and_ fighting over the same guy. "I wouldn't want to fight Helga over another guy, I can tell you that." He said with something that looked like fear in his eyes.

Aaron laughed at that. Not only because it was true, but also because a girl actually _had_ fought with Helga over a guy. He chuckled a bit the story of Helga even sabotaging Arnold's date with Lila at the cheese festival. "Yeah… I think it would take a really dense girl to try and fight Helga."

* * *

About 15 minutes later, Gerald pulled up in front of Helga's house and parked. The boys stepped out of the car and went up to the front door. "I gotta say, Arnold, I was a little skeptical when I saw you buy that outfit at Nancy Spumoni's, but you look real smart in it." Gerald said with a big smile. "Thanks, Gerald." Arnold answered and gestured towards him. "You look good in your tuxedo too."

"How about ringing the bell, girls?" Aaron asked, as he was currently behind the two boys, not able to reach the bell himself. Gerald rolled his eyes as Arnold rang the bell. "Coming!" Phoebe's voice cheered from inside.

It took about five seconds before the door was opened, revealing Phoebe in her blue dress with her hair tied in a ponytail and her glasses changed into contacts. Her eye shadow was mostly blue, but had a green tint to it and her lips had a bit of glitter on them.

"Babe, you've never looked more stunning." Gerald greeted and kissed her cheek, avoiding smearing her makeup. She blushed a bit. "Thank you, Gerald, you look really handsome tonight yourself."

Arnold peered inside. "Where's Helga?" he asked curiously. "Yeah, not desperate sounding at all." Aaron mumbled behind him, only loud enough for Arnold to hear. He was about to scowl at him, when Phoebe answered his question. "She's putting on shoes upstairs. I'll go get her."

Phoebe went over to the stairs and started walking up. When she reached Helga's door, she had only just gotten to the last step, so the boys could see her clearly. She opened the door. "You ready, Helga?" she asked.

All the boys felt an eager feeling dwell inside of them for different reasons. Gerald, because he was just looking forward to see Helga all dolled up, while Aaron and Arnold were excited to see how more obvious her beauty could be with a gown like that.

"Uh, Ph-Phoebs, are you sure about this… get-up?" Helga asked uncertainly from inside her room. Gerald rolled his eyes. "Damn, that girl's stubborn." He whispered into Arnold's ear. He nodded. For once, he felt rather impatient with her. He was not in the mood for her to be shy or whatever about this. He was far too excited to see her!

"You look beautiful, Helga, I promised not to go overboard with the makeup and the hair, didn't I?" Phoebe asked and crossed her arms. "Wait, Helga's…" Gerald started. "Helga's wearing…" Arnold continued. "wearing makeup?" Aaron finished.

Helga was in theory known for being able to pull off the natural look, so imagining her with makeup on was hard. "Well, y-you didn't, I guess. It's just so weird to see myself like this." Helga answered and an obvious gulp could be heard.

Phoebe looked down at the boys. "Two seconds." She said with a smile and went inside Helga's room. "Is she gonna force her out?" Aaron asked as he pointed lazily upstairs towards the girls. "Oh, yeah. Phoebe can be forceful if she wants to." Gerald answered.

"Ph-Phoebe! Don't pull me when I'm dressed like this and even wearing high heels! I'll trip!" Helga shouted from inside her room. "Then use your own two feet!" Phoebe answered and pulled a little harder.

The boys finally saw Phoebe's blue dress, as she kept pulling at Helga's hand. It looked like a big struggle, but both girls were quite careful with their own and each other's clothes as they did this. It was something only girls were capable of, the boys figured.

When the pink fabric finally could be seen next to the opened door, to Arnold, it felt like time froze still. As Phoebe was still pulling at Helga, her arm was stretched as her other one was curled into a small fist laid between her breasts, and she wore a worried expression on her face.

"Wow." Helga could hear Arnold's voice exclaim and she stopped resisting Phoebe immediately. She turned to glance down the stairs to look at the boys who was standing with big eyes and open mouths at the end of it. Phoebe let go of her hand and Helga let it fall down to the fabric of her dress. Her fists clenched a tiny bit around it, as it the gown itself could protect her from being seen with it on.

To say Helga looked beautiful was an understatement. Her arms and shoulders were bear as the dress was waving in two big circles over each of her breasts, much like Phoebe's dress also did. However, unlike Phoebe's dress, the chest piece wasn't cut in two different halves, but was in a slightly ruffled fabric, compared to the skirt of the dress. Small silver diamonds created a small belt-looking area beneath her chest and went up halfway through the chest-part, as if rays drawn like a typical painting of a sun. The skirt of the dress swayed out in an elegant wave, flowing down her long legs in the silky fabric, but was cut open mid-thigh revealing a decent amount of her left leg. On her feet, she was wearing silver stilettos, matching the diamonds on her gown flawlessly.

Helga's hair was slightly curled and looked like a waterfall falling down all the way to beneath her chest even. Her eyes were popping out with black mascara and a bit of black eyeliner, with some silver eye shadow making her eyes seem even more sparkly. Her lips were slightly rosy and glittered in the light. As a finishing touch, Phoebe had put a silver bracelet around Helga's right wrist and put long silver earrings in her ears.

"You… You can all put your eyes back into your eye sockets now!" Helga said, doing her very best to pull on her usual scowl and angry tone of voice, but found it very hard when she knew she looked as intimidating as a kitten playing with a ball of yarn.

When the boys just kept ogling her, Helga groaned. "Phoebe…" she snarled annoyed and without any confidence in her voice or body language. Phoebe put her hands on her shoulders. "They're speechless because you're beautiful, Helga."

Helga glanced towards the boys, as if expecting them to either agree or disagree. When they kept gawking, she snarled and went towards the door to her room. "I can't do this." She declared. She felt beyond vulnerable. This was completely out of her comfort zone and she felt like passing out on the spot.

"Wait!"

A way too familiar voice stopped Helga and she glanced down. In two strides, Arnold already had one foot on the first step of the stairs. He was looking up at her with wonder in his eyes, while her body just shook a little.

There was something oddly familiar about this scene to the both of them. It was as if they were 9 years old again, playing Romeo and Juliet in their school play. This was just like the balcony scene, where Helga had recited her lines so beautifully that Arnold had been surprised enough to forget his own lines.

Arnold started smiling in that lovesick way, Helga had always imagined he'd look at her with, but never thought possible. "Helga, have you…" he started and gave a nervous chuckle. "Have you seen yourself in the mirror?"

"I… I've been doing nothing _but_ look at myself in the mirror, Arnoldo! Why are you asking me such a stupid - "

"No." Arnold interrupted and walked up the stairs. He was walking in a perfectly regular pace, but both he and Helga felt like it was taking him forever before he reached her and took her hand. "I mean, have you _really_ looked at yourself?"

Helga's heart was beating so fast that she couldn't answer. "Come with me." Arnold requested and pulled her gently with him into her room. While still walking with her, he took his hand out of hers. She didn't get to miss the warmth of his hand for long though, because he simply put that hand on the side of her waist and took her hand again with his other one, so he could stand a little behind her.

"Look." Arnold asked of Helga, and she looked forward into her mirror. As if seeing herself for the first time, her eyes went wide. She'd done nothing but look at herself all day in this gown, in this makeup and with this hair, but with Arnold smiling so honestly next to her, it was like she could truly believe she was beautiful.

"Can't you see just how gorgeous you look right now?" Arnold asked and then chuckled a bit. "I mean… I've always told everyone that you're beautiful, but this gown makes it so much more apparent."

Helga felt her heart stop and she glanced over her shoulder to look at Arnold. "What…? You think I'm… E-Even when I wear my regular clothes?" she asked with big, deer-like eyes. He nodded. "You've always been beautiful, Helga, you're just a little too good at hiding it behind a scowl and your iron fists." He answered, and she turned around to look at herself in the mirror again.

"If you didn't do that, then guys would flock around you all the time." Arnold said with a small chuckle. Helga giggled a bit at the thought, but then wrinkled her nose. "Yuck, no thanks. I think Ol' Betsy and The Five Avengers wouldn't like to work overtime like that. I don't want a bunch of guys hovering around me all the time."

Arnold smiled as he looked into Helga's big, blue eyes in the mirror. "Yeah, I wouldn't want that either." He said so honestly that her eyes went bigger. She felt her heart beat at her ribcage 'till it hurt and felt a rather lovesick giggle forcing its way out of her pink mouth.

Helga turned around, feeling the confidence overflowing her and took the hand Arnold was holding her hand with in her other hand. She wrapped her hands around his and smiled gratefully at him. "Thank you so much, Arnold. What you've been saying tonight… means a lot to me." She said honestly and then bend down just a little bit and kissed his cheek.

Arnold felt so many things at this point: Happiness, confusion, bliss, excitement and love. So much love. Helga pulled her lips slowly away from his cheek, but let them linger closely for a second more. Then she straightened her back and smacked his chest just a little bashfully. "W-Well, l-let's go, f-football head." She said and walked past him.

Arnold slowly lifted his hand and touched his cheek right where Helga had kissed it. He could feel a bit of her lip gloss smeared on it. His face light up as he clenched his fists and made a fist pump. _Yes! This is already the best night ever!_

Arnold then turned around, with cheeks flushed and a big smile on his face, and ran out into the hallway. Phoebe, Gerald and Aaron were standing outside, waiting for Helga as she was walking down the stairs. Arnold, feeling brave and mostly giddy, took a few steps down and then scooped her up in his arms.

"Arnold!" Helga squealed, as she wrapped her arms around Arnold's neck, so she wouldn't fall down. He was carrying her bridal style, as he ran down the stairs with her. She was laughing happily as if she was a child on a roller coaster. He got downstairs and twirled them around for a bit before walking out the open door.

"Put me down, you big goof!" Helga shrieked happily and bumped one of her hands on his shoulder a couple of times. Arnold did as told and put her down to the ground. She bumped her fist against his chest softly. "You scared me! At least warn me before doing something like that!"

"So, it's ok as long as I warn you?" Arnold asked with a rather smug smile. Helga was squealing like a fan girl on the inside, but just shook her head in amusement on the outside. She put her hands on her hips. "You're gonna do it with or without my permission, aren't you?"

"If you're gonna giggle like that every time I do it, then yes. Yes, I will." Arnold answered and closed the door. Helga's smile went up in one side. "You're…" she mumbled but then forced her voice volume up. "You're in a really good mood… aren't you?"

Arnold didn't even looked surprised, he just kept smiling as he nodded. "Why?" Helga asked with wonder in her voice. He shrugged. "I guess because… it's the first time we've been together outside school for a long time."

Helga's eyes went wide and her heart got bigger. "Wait… you're in a good mood…" she lifted her finger and pointed to herself. "… because of me?" she asked. Arnold didn't answer, but just winked briefly at her. _Wha… What is this feeling? This… vibe I'm getting from him again?_ She wondered, when he held his arm out to her. "Shall we?"

_Oh, god! Arnold, my sweet angel, the love of my life, I could die happy knowing that you think I'm beautiful, but now I definitely don't want to die!_ Helga thought as she wrapped her arm around his. _If I did, I would never know if your behavior means, what I hope it means._

"My little gentleman." Helga said with a teasing smirk, as she and Arnold descended the stairs to join the others. "Always at your service, my lady." Arnold answered and bowed a little, pulling her down with him since their arms were wrapped around each others.

"My lady?!" Helga repeated in disbelief and snorted. "I guess fine feathers _do_ make fine birds." She observed. Arnold shook his head. "You look beautiful covered in fine feathers or uncovered." He said with a smile. She glanced at him with raised eyebrows. He squeezed his eyes shut and lifted his hand to rub the bridge of his nose. "That sounded really weird, right? Sorry. It sounded better in my head."

"You're right about that."

Helga and Arnold looked ahead and saw the rest of their group looking at them, all in amusement. "My god, Arnold, I love you, but you are _not_ good with words." Gerald said and started laughing. "Oh, I don't know," Helga said and looked at Arnold in the corner of her eyes. "When it counts, he can be quite articulate."

Arnold looked at Helga as she winked a little at him. The goofiness within came back at full volume again and he rubbed his neck in an embarrassed way. "Ok, enough with the flirting." Gerald said and opened the passenger door for Phoebe. "We should seriously get going. I don't think Rhonda believes in being fashionably late."

Phoebe smiled brightly and climbed into the char. Gerald closed it behind her and then turned to walk around the car. "Oh, and by the way, Helga, since you three are going to be sitting in the backseat, it's probably a good idea to sit on the lap of someone." Gerald said, gave a small wink to Arnold and then walked around the car.

_Gerald, you sneaky thing._ Arnold thought and looked at Helga, waiting for her to say whatever she was thinking about this turn of events. She looked baffled to say the least and turned shyly to glance at Arnold, who shrugged, trying his best not to seem too happy about the idea. She sighed a little and smiled. "Well, since I've already been on _your_ lap." She said, as if that would make it less intimate.

Aaron hadn't heard what Gerald said, nor the small plan Helga and Arnold made about having her sit on his lap, since he was already on the other side of the car, ready to get in. He opened the door and hopped in, as Arnold and Helga walked to the car. He opened the door and seated himself inside, doing his best to calm his beating heart.

Helga was biting at her lower lip. She tried to figure out the most elegant and smooth way to get into the car. After thinking hard about it, she gave herself an encouraging nod and bend down to get in. Taking a deep, inaudibly breath, she laid her hand on Arnold's shoulder for leverage and sat down on his lap. She swung her legs neatly into the car and was – much to her happiness and pride – seated without much struggle.

"Smooth, Helga, only a girl could be so elegant about that." Arnold complimented and closed the door. "Oh, yeah, you know me: Mrs. Graceful." Helga answered and snickered. "Excuse me, Mrs. Graceful," Aaron said and gained the attention. "why are you sitting on Arnold's lap anyway?"

"I told her to." Gerald chimed in. "There's not enough room for all three of you to sit, so I suggested Helga sat on Arnold's lap for the ride."

Aaron cocked an eyebrow and turned to look at Helga and Arnold again. "How is this in any way safe?" he wondered aloud. "Oh, please!" Helga said and waved her hand between herself and Arnold. "If we _do_ crash, I'll work as a human shield for him."

Arnold frowned a bit. "And then what about you, Helga?" he asked. She looked down at him. "You want to sit on _my_ lap?" she asked with a cocked eyebrow and a crooked smirk. His frown got deeper and he shook his head slowly and seriously. "No thanks. Very weird image in my head."

"Why, Arnold," Helga said with a bit of a flirtatious tone. "if you're not careful about what you say, I might just start to think that you _like_ having me sit on your lap?" she asked and batted her eyelashes a bit. Arnold smirked and leaned closer while narrowing his eyes. "What would you do if I said you're right?"

Helga, not really expecting such a daring answer, just bit at her lower lip a bit. "Well… then I would quote tall hair boy over there and tell you," she said and leaned a little closer to touch his nose with her own. "you're a bold kid, Arnold."

As Helga said those last words, the sound of the car engine started and filled the silence. Arnold felt like kissing Helga more and more and had been about to, when Gerald shouted in a happy voice: "Alright! Let's go party!"

The gang hollered together and fist-pumped the air, all hurrahing as Gerald started driving the car through the streets. He turned on the radio and quickly found a random channel. The stereo was filled with a song they all recognized immediately.

"Hell yes!" Helga shouted approvingly and started singing along. "_Good morning and good night. I wake up at twilight._." Phoebe then turned around and sang along. "_It's gonna be alright._" Then the whole group shouted ear piercingly: "_We don't even have to try: It's always a good time!_"

As the song went on, Arnold realized that at this very moment, he didn't have any boy-problems with Helga sitting on his lap and even moving her hips around to the beat. As he sang along, he realized why: The feeling of lust was definitely there… but it was overshadowed with the love for the girl in front of him.

"_Doesn't matter when, it's always a good time then._" Helga sang while the rest of the group had gone a bit more quiet. "_Doesn't matter where, it's always a good time there._" Except for Arnold, who didn't want to let go of this lovesick feeling.

"_Doesn't matter when, it's always a good time then._" Helga sang as she turned around to look at Arnold. They both then shook their heads matching the beat of the song and then shouted in unison: "_It's always a good time!_"

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: Since I might just forget to say this when we reach that point, I'll say it now: As I was writing this chapter, I planned to have a friend over who lives in Fyn (a part of Denmark, I live in Sjælland). She's going to be here from Tuesday to Thursday, so naturally, I won't be able to write for those three days. So I'm just warning you guys about that :P**

**Credits:**

**Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen – "Good time"**


	13. Save me a dance?

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**In a moment of panic, Helga unknowingly ruined Arnold's plans of leaving Aaron alone to walk to Rhonda's party, by inviting Phoebe over. By doing so, naturally, Gerald would come to pick both girls up and suggested the two cousins to come along with him to pick them up. So much for picking up Helga on his own, Arnold thought.**_

_**Seeing Helga in that beautiful light pink gown left quite an impression on all three boys, but mostly Arnold who pulled her into her room and convinced her how beautiful she looked, earning a peck on the cheek.**_

_**Gerald, feeling bad about ruining Arnold's plans, suggests innocently that Helga should sit on the lap of someone, since there wasn't enough not room for all three people in the backseat of the car. To Arnold's luck, Helga of course chose his lap to sit on, and the trip to Rhonda's mansion begun.**_

**Author's 1st note: Chapter 13! The dreaded number! :O Naw, I'm not even superstitious, but still xD Haha.**

* * *

Chapter 13: "Save me a dance?"

"Well, here we are. Rhonda's mansion." Gerald said as he turned around a corner. He, Phoebe and Aaron all stretched their necks to look at it. "Whoa! This chick is loaded!" Aaron exclaimed and turned around to look at Helga. "Helga, you gotta see this!"

"Hell no, I've seen it before." Helga answered and crossed her arms. "Ever since moving into this freaking castle when we were thirteen, this girl's been taking any chance she got to show it off. Going to one of her parties or not, I've seen like a million pictures of it."

"You haven't seen the mansion like _this_, Helga." Arnold pointed out and twisted her a little. He pushed a button on the door behind her back, making the window roll down. "Try and look." He suggested and held his hand on her back. "I promise I won't let you fall out."

"Oh, brother. Oh, well, if it means that much to you…" Helga answered while rolling her eyes. She laid her hands on his arm, holding it around her stomach, and leaned her head out of the window. "But I really don't see how - Wow!"

"I know, right?" Arnold asked and made his grip on Helga tighter, since she was practically laying against the door at this point. Her eyes were big and filled with wonder as they drove closer to the huge building. "My god! Did that mansion get bigger?!"

"No, it just always seems that way. Look at all the lights, she's decorated it with."

"Rhonda didn't do shit herself. The beauty of that place is thanks to all the slaves that goes by the name of 'butlers'."

"Fair enough."

"Wait… are those… butlers coming to greet us or something?" Helga asked. Arnold's grip on her got tighter, as he leaned forward. She lifted her left arm, so she could put it behind his neck. That way there was room for him to look outside. "Hmm… yeah, looks like it." He answered and looked up at her with a smile. She glanced back at him with a smirk. "Sheesh, could she get anymore high and mighty?"

"Probably not." Arnold answered and leaned back into his seat. He noticed Helga started to look nervous. "You alright?" he asked. "I…" she started with a low voice and then got closer to his face, so she could whisper. "It's not like I care about what the princess thinks of me or if the butlers finds me rude or anything, but… I don't know. I still feel like I don't belong here."

"You kidding? You think any of us does?" Gerald asked as he looked at her in the rearview mirror. "This place looks like it only fits celebrities and royalties. When those butlers comes to greet us, one will park the car for me as the others escort us inside and calls us sir and ma'am. Oh, and in case you haven't noticed: There's also a red carpet."

"What?!" Helga shrieked and leaned back out the open window again. She narrowed her eyes and for the first time, she noticed the row of butlers waiting as a few people got out of a car in front of them. As Gerald said, one butler got the car keys as the others escorted the group inside. Narrowing her eyes a bit more, she could see it was Sid, Stinky and Harold.

"But… ugh…" Helga leaned back inside the car. "How can you all seem so calm then?" she asked. "Because it's a fraud." Phoebe answered. "Huh?" Helga mumbled and leaned towards her. "What do you mean?"

Phoebe turned around in her seat. "Rhonda's parents usually stay around for the party for the first hour or so, just to make sure that it's a banquet and not a teen party." She explained. "While they're there, we're all supposed to be on our best behavior, but as soon as they leave for whatever they're going to and the butlers will leave us to our party, Rhonda will lead us into the party room. _That's_ when the real party begins."

Helga looked stunned to say the least. "I can't believe it." She leaned back against Arnold's chest. "Rhonda is a cunning, scheming, manipulative, defying-her-parents kind of girl…" she turned around to look at Arnold. "Tell me again, why do I hate her?"

Everyone in the car laughed at that, including Helga. "Because besides being all those things, she's also stuck-up?" Aaron suggested. She nodded. "Sounds just about right." She shook her head in amusement. "Man, this is gonna be one interesting evening."

After a few seconds, Helga thought of something. "Didn't you guys say that there's always alcohol at her parties?" she asked. The group nodded and mumbled their agreement – Except for Aaron of course, him being just as much like a virgin to this as Helga.

Helga sighed a bit. "But a real party hidden behind this fraud or not… I guess I won't expect to see any alcohol that's actually drinkable." She mumbled. "What kind did you have in mind?" Gerald asked with a mischievous smirk.

Helga noticed it immediately and smirked back. "Oh, I don't know… perhaps some rum and coke?" she wonder aloud, hoping she was right about the reason for Gerald's smirk, which got bigger at her answer. "You're in luck, Pataki, as a matter of fact I brought a Captain Morgan with me accompanied by a couple of coca cola bottles."

"Oh, Gerald!" Helga said with an over-the-top grateful voice. "I could kiss you for bringing Captain Morgan!"

Gerald laughed but shook his head. "My body may only be kissed by Phoebe." He said, which made Phoebe blush a bit. "But you can give my kiss to Arnold, since he's the one who paid for it anyway."

Arnold frowned a bit in confusion. _Since when did I ever…_ but then it hit him. _Oh! Gerald, again, you sneaky thing!_ He smiled a bit, as Helga turned around to eye him. "Really?" she asked skeptical. He shrugged, though he already knew the source of her suspicion. "_You_ bought alcohol? And rum of all things? You hate that stuff."

"Now, Helga, that's not fair. I mean, just because I didn't like rum back when I was 14 years old doesn't mean my taste buds haven't matured since - " Arnold stopped talking when he noticed that Helga wasn't buying his explanation. "Ok, you're right, _I_ hate it, but I know you like it."

"You… You actually remember I told you that?" Helga asked in wonder. Arnold smiled and nodded. _Thank God, I told Gerald that yesterday._ He thought in relief._ Didn't expect him to actually go out and buy a bottle though. Guess he's trying to prove that he's still the best wingman ever._

"What's holding up that kiss, Pataki? You can't suddenly just change your mind just because it's not me who bought the bottle." Gerald said in an attempt at getting Helga to kiss Arnold. He didn't know that she'd already kissed him once that evening and he therefore didn't really need to try and push her to do it.

But Helga was sorta grateful for Gerald's pushiness, since it gave her an excuse to do it. "Ugh, fine." She said and rolled her eyes. She put her hands on Arnold's shoulders for leverage and kissed his cheek. The right one this time, opposite to the left one she kissed earlier.

Arnold felt a serious flutter around his heart and his stomach, while Helga leaned back, smiling at him. "Thank you for remembering such a small, insignificant thing." She complimented and turned to look towards the mansion again.

Arnold felt Aaron eyeing him next to them, but didn't want to ruin the moment by looking back at him. He simply kept looking at the back of Helga's hair, convincing himself that her heart was beating just as fast as his, not knowing how true it in fact was.

At this point Gerald finally made it to the row of butlers. Helga felt her heart get stuck in her throat while two of them were walking around the car to open the doors for her and Phoebe. She looked at Arnold in a panic. "What am I supposed to say?"

"Don't say anything. Just hold your head high and pretend to be better than them. It's what they're used to anyway." Arnold answered with a wink. Helga giggled appreciatively. She needed a joke like that to calm her nerves.

When Helga heard the door open behind her, she took a deep breath. _Alright, Helga, old girl._ _Time to put on your best act. This is the dinner with Arnold, Phoebe and Gerald mixed with being Cecile plus that night with Rhonda's slumber party back in 4th grade. _she thought with an encouraging voice, but then her face fell. _It's the same thing all over again… and look how well all those memories went. Criminy!_

When Arnold noticed the hesitant look in Helga's eyes, he got an idea. With a smile, he let his left arm sneak it's way beneath the hollow of her knees. "Arnold?" she asked. "Hold on tight." He requested and turned around in the seat. She quickly complied when she realized what he was doing.

Arnold put his feet firmly to the ground outside the car and stood up while holding Helga in his arms, like he did earlier down the stairs. "If you don't mind, good sir," he said with the most polite voice he could manage as he put Helga down to the ground. "then I'll escort this one."

The butler looked surprised for about a second, but then closed the car door and bowed to them, gesturing towards the mansion as a signal for them to join the party. Arnold bowed back gracefully and snug his arm around Helga's to start walking.

Helga sighed a bit in relief and bend down a little to whisper in Arnold's ear. "Thank you for that." she said and straightened her back again. "You're welcome. You seemed like you could use a nudge." He answered.

"You got that right. Unfortunately, I have a feeling it'll be like that all night."

"Well then, I guess I'll just have to nudge you all evening." Arnold observed with a fake sigh. Helga stuck her tongue out at him, not able to resist despite her surroundings. "Oh, my knight in shining armor." She said ironically. "Speaking of shining armor, with everything going on back there, then I didn't really get to say that… th-that you look quite good tonight yourself, Arnold."

Arnold, not expecting a sincere compliment all of a sudden, turned to her and smile as they walked behind the rest of the gang. "Thank you, Helga. I… didn't expect you to say that." he answered. "W-Well, even _I_ can pay a compliment every once in a while when it's well deserved." Helga said. "B-Besides, you surprised me, football head. You guys said you went for tuxedos, yet you came in a white dress shirt and a vest."

"It doesn't look weird, does it?"

"No… No, it really suits you. Not that a tuxedo doesn't, but this…" Helga gestured towards him. "was a surprise… in the good way!" she explained and started rubbing at her neck a little. _Why do I sound so unsure of something so obvious as Arnold being handsome? Is it really just because I'm not used to give him compliments?_

Arnold didn't seem to mind Helga's stuttering though. "Thanks, Helga, that's kinda what I was going for."

"Going for?"

"Yeah, I mean… everyone's already seen me in a tuxedo too many times to count, so I figured something new would fit this evening."

"Something new? But it's just another Rhonda party. As far as I know, you've never missed a single one."

"Well, no, but… tonight you're here too, so… yeah, it's still a different evening."

"… R-Right…" Helga said a little shy, but then went right back to her usually tone of voice. "Since it means the world to you that I'm here and everything." She snorted and looked away. _Really? I'm snorting now?_

Arnold bit at his lower lip. "Actually, Helga, it _does _mean a - " he had been about to say that it _did_ mean a lot to him that Helga was here tonight, when Rhonda's voice interrupted as she greeted Aaron in front of them. _You're kidding…_ Arnold thought and sighed a little. _I really do have the worst luck._

"Aaron, darling, so glad you could make it." Rhonda said and gave each of his cheeks a kiss. "I'm glad I was invited, Rhonda." Aaron answered and held his hand out to Helga. "And thank you for letting this lovely lady come along with me."

Before Helga could react, he pulled her out of Arnold's grasp and into his own. Rhonda's eyes went wide. "Helga?!" she asked in a ridiculous high-pitched voice. "Ow!" Helga exclaimed and held her ears, very much aware of the fact that would mean to let go of Aaron's hand. "Princess! Would you _please_ keep the squealing like a pig to a minimum? In case you didn't know, my ears can still hear despite the big, blonde hair I have for the evening."

Rhonda frowned a bit. "Yeah, that's definitely Helga beneath… wow." She said as she was once again stunned at how Helga looked. She walked around her in a circle to eye her completely. "What? Are you a vulture looking for mistakes now?" Helga asked and crossed her arms.

"Uh, no, just…" Rhonda stopped in front of Helga and smiled just a little bit. "I never thought you'd be able to pull off such a look. I'm… frankly I'm impressed." She admitted with a dignified voice.

Helga went completely into a state of shock. She turned to look at Arnold, who was standing just a little behind her. "Did Rhonda-Lloyd just give me a compliment?" she asked in disbelief. He smiled and nodded, despite his sour mood at being not only interrupted, but having Helga pulled away from him like that.

"Huh," Helga crossed her arms with a proud smirk. "wonders never cease." She observed. Rhonda rolled her eyes at that. "Beautiful dress or not, you're still Helga Pataki under all that." she stated. "And don't you forget it!" Helga chimed in with a big smile.

"Please tell me you're planning to behave?"

"I don't know. Am I?"

"Helga…"

"I got it. I got it. I'll drop the idea about making a concert with armpit farts." Helga answered and started walking into the mansion. "Helga!" Rhonda called after her in horror. "You better mean that! I'm expecting you to be on your best behavior! If you ruin this evening, I'll… I'll never forgive you!"

"Oh!" Helga exclaimed in mock shock and turned around. She started shaking her dress with her hands. "I'm _trembling_ with fear in my Nancy Spumoni gown!" She then turned around and caught up with Phoebe and Gerald, who had found Eugene and Sheena.

Rhonda's eyes went even bigger. "Nancy Spumoni?! That girl went and bought a Nancy Spumoni gown?!" she asked in disbelief but then just shook her head. "Aaron, please just… make sure she really doesn't do any armpit farts. There'll be people from other schools, and I… I need to keep greeting the guests. Besides, if my parents catches her, they'll start questioning the school I'm attending."

"Yes, ma'am." Aaron answered with a charming smile and started walking towards the gang.

"Oh, good evening, Arnold." Rhonda said as she noticed him. He rolled his eyes and greeted her back. "Hello, Rhonda. Nice party. I've been looking forward to it as always. If you'll excuse me."

As Arnold started to walk, Rhonda called for him. "Arnold!" he turned around. "I'm also counting on _you_ to keep Helga on a leash. I'll kick all of you out, if she misbehaves while my parents are still here."

Arnold just gave a polite smile and a nod before continuing his walk towards the group. He quickly scanned the area. There were so many people around that if it wasn't because he'd been able to recognize Helga anywhere, he'd already been lost.

Arnold managed to sneak into this little circle they had created and even managed to squeeze in between Helga and Aaron, much to the obvious annoyance of Aaron. "You really do look very beautiful, Helga." Sheena said, her voice indicating the ever-present honesty.

"Th-Thank you, Sheena. You look beautiful too." Helga answered and pulled a lock behind her hair. Sheena beamed at the compliment. "Thanks a lot, Helga!" she answered appreciatively.

"Speaking of you, Helga," Aaron leaned in front of Arnold to get closer to her. "can I talk with you for a second?" he asked. Helga hesitated, but then nodded. _I knew it._ She thought as he took her hand. _He's gonna give me some sort of… mission or whatever. Attending the party isn't enough. Rotten bastard._

Arnold's scowl got deeper, while Aaron pulled Helga away from the group. He eyed them over his shoulder and while Helga wasn't looking, Aaron glanced over his shoulder at Arnold and winked confidently. Arnold felt a serious snarl escape his throat and turned around so he didn't have to look at them.

"Alright, bucko, what's the plan?" Helga asked and pulled her arm out of Aaron's grasp. "Firstly to tell you, that you really do look beautiful." He answered with a smile.

"That doesn't mean anything to me coming from you."

Aaron snickered in shock. "Why not?"

"Why not?" Helga repeated and rolled her eyes. "Because one, _you_ don't mean anything to _me_, so why should your _words_ mean anything? Two, you bought the damn thing! You kinda _have_ to think I look beautiful in this dress."

"I don't _have_ to do anything… but with that attitude of yours, I think _you_ just might have to." Aaron said with a bit of an edge to his voice. Helga crossed her arms in a childish way. "As if all you wanted from me this evening was to show up. Hell no. I expected this from the beginning."

"_Fine_, but my demands may surprise you."

"… Bring it on." Helga answered while gritting her teeth. Aaron smirked and gestured for her to come closer. With a roll of her eyes she complied. He started whispering in her ear. As she heard his requests, she frowned in confusion. "Really?" she asked and straightened her back again. "That's all you want me to do?"

"That's all, and no surprises later tonight or anything either."

"… You're bluffing. What's the catch?"

"No catch. No surprises. No nothing. Just do exactly that and I'm satisfied… for tonight." Aaron answered and held his arm out to Helga. She eyed it for a second, before smirking at him. "You didn't request I had to be nice to _you_." She reminded him and then strutted towards the gang.

Aaron shook his head in amusement. _You never cease to amaze me, Helga._ He thought and then followed her. _You are probably the biggest surprise in my life. Never thought girls like you seriously existed. Too bad you're this hung up on Arnold._

* * *

Helga had no problems doing as Aaron had requested: Being nice. She'd already planned to try and behave through this evening. Thanks to a pep talk from Phoebe earlier, she was determined to have fun, be herself but also be the best parts of herself. At least the parts someone like Rhonda appreciated.

Helga was standing with the whole gang this time. Not just Arnold, Gerald, Phoebe and Aaron. At this point, Nadine, Sid, Stinky, Harold, Curly and Lila had all joined them. The doors had been closed and every guest had arrived.

"Would any of you care for some champagne?" a butler asked behind Helga. For a second, she'd been about to turn around and yell: "Hell yes!" with her voice volume as high as it could get. Then she reminded herself of the solemn vow and just turned around elegantly. "Why, thank you."

Helga took a glass of champagne in her hand and gestured to the others. "Anyone else want some?" she asked. Some looked surprised, others looked baffled, Arnold just smiled. "Yes, please." He said and took ahold of a champagne glass.

When the group had gotten their champagne glasses, Harold was the one to question Helga's behavior. "I didn't know you could say nice things, Helga. The dress is a surprise itself, but that act could almost give you an Oscar!"

Helga pursed her lips in a duck-face and flipped her long hair. "Why, Mr. Berman, I don't know what you're talking about." She said in a dignified voice and kept flipping her hair as the group laughed. She then put her hand to her hip. "Naw, I just figured it might be a hoot to try and act like this every once in a while. Maybe my Rhonda impressions will be even better then."

The group laughed again as Helga sipped her champagne. "M-Mother, I must warn you." A nervous voice said not too far away from them. They turned to glance in the direction of the voice belonging to Rhonda, as she and her mother was on their way over.

"Helga isn't like every other girl in my school, I swear. She just… has courage of her convictions. And those are some bad convictions… And who can blame her with those parents? The only one remotely decent in her family is her big sister Olga."

Helga turned around and snarled into the middle of the group. "Why, that skinny, stuck-up, arrogant, self-centered, wannabe French, poodle walking, Barbie clothes wearing, 'look at me, I'm pretty', daughter of a - "

"Helga, dear." Rhonda said behind Helga with an over the top cheerful voice. Helga turned around wearing the biggest toothpaste smile. "Rhonda, darling." She answered and to everyone's surprise, kissed her on both cheeks. "How are you?"

"Uh… I-I'm just fine, Helga. Thank you for asking." Rhonda answered beyond baffled. Arnold had to try very hard not to laugh at the shocked expressions from everyone. "I just wanted you all to meet my mother, Brooke Lloyd." Rhonda continued and gestured to the woman beside her. "Good evening, everyone. How are you?"

The gang answered politely, while Helga decided to step it up a notch. "Thank you for asking, Mrs. Lloyd. I'm sure I can answer on the behalf of all my friends that we are delighted to be here tonight. And if you don't mind my saying so, then this banquet is just exquisite."

Brooke Lloyd blinked for a second – as did her daughter – but then smiled broadly. "Why, thank you, my dear. How nice it is to meet such a charming young lady." She said and then turned to whisper at her daughter. "I thought you said she was rude?"

Rhonda turned back at her. "She usually is!" she answered, not caring if anyone heard her. Mrs. Lloyd frowned a bit. "Perhaps you could learn something from Ms. Helga Pataki." She said and gestured to Helga. "What a wonderful idea!" Helga answered and smirked at Rhonda. "I'd be delighted to."

Rhonda was just plain stunned. "I'll try and find your father, Rhonda. We'll be leaving in a few minutes. Enjoy the evening, everyone. And, Helga, it was a pleasure to meet you." She said and held her hand out to her. Helga took it gracefully and curtsied just a bit. "The pleasure was all mine." She answered and then started smirking gleefully. "Believe me."

As soon as Brooke Lloyd was out of hearing range, the whole gang laughed, the exception of Helga and Rhonda. "So, Rhonda," Helga said and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "when will it fit into your schedule that we start these lessons in ladylike manners?"

The whole gang started laughing again, Helga joining in this time. Rhonda just looked at her with her permanent stunned expression. "What are you trying to pull?" she asked. "I have no idea what you're talking about." Helga answered and sipped from her champagne. "You told me to be on my best behavior." She gestured to herself. "This is my best behavior."

"If _this_ is your best behavior, then why can't you just act like that all the time?" Rhonda asked in slight anger, but still mostly stunned. "Because, Ms. Rhonda Wellington Lloyd," Helga started with an amused voice. "that's not who I - "

" - who she is." Arnold chimed in as if an echo of Helga's words. "She's mean and nasty and insensitive. That's just who she is. That's what makes her special."

They all turned to look at him in surprise. "Uh, right." Helga said with a small smile and crossed her arms. "What he said." _I can't believe he remembered the exact words I said after the whole IT girl fiasco._

"But she can also be sophisticated, considerate, kind-hearted and caring." Arnold added. This took Helga a bit by surprise. "When have I ever been sophisticated?" she asked. She already knew what he would say, if she asked about any of the other things. They'd had a similar conversation back when they were eleven in San Lorenzo.

"You were sophisticated when you, Gerald, Phoebe and I went to Chez Paris."

Helga laughed loudly for one second. "Yeah, because doing dishes to pay for your meal is so very sophisticated." She pointed out in a sarcastic voice. He smirked and leaned a little closer. "You do ballet." He whispered.

Helga felt her brain glitch for a second. "I do _what_?!" she shouted in shock and almost jumped back into Aaron's arms. He tried to steady her with her arms in his hands, but she shook him off. "How… H-How do you know that?"

"Remember back when we did the school paper? How you decided to try and make your own and photoshopped a picture of me kissing a tree in it, claiming I was in love with it?"

"Uh… uh-huh."

"Well, Gerald managed to pay someone to get some pictures of you we could print into the newspaper, without my consent of course since we obviously never did it, and that's when I found out."

Helga felt like screaming. "Who took such a picture of me?!" she asked. "Uh…" Arnold started but then shut his lips. "Why does that matter?" he asked. She lifted her hands and made a strangling gesture. "Because I wanna choke the person for stalking me like that!"

Sid, standing not too far away, panicked immediately. "Please don't kill me!" he shouted and stepped back. "You little twerp!" Helga yelled and reached out for him. He screamed and started running away. To everyone's wonder, she didn't follow him but just sighed angrily. _So Aaron blackmailing me could've been my second blackmail… I really need to have less secrets._

"I thought you wanted to choke him?" Nadine asked with a cocked eyebrow. Helga sighed, crossed her arms and nodded. "Trust me, I do and I will, but not tonight." Her eyes turned dark. "But prepare for him to show up all blue on Tuesday after I beat him up Monday."

"Well, we are ready to depart now, Rhonda, my dear." A male voice said next to them. "Oh, very well, father. I hope you and mother have a lovely evening." Rhonda answered and gave a brief hug to her father. "You too, my dear. Have fun." He answered and waved at the gang, who waved back.

"Shall we retire for now, Ms. Lloyd?" a butler asked in a polite voice. "Yes, that will be all for now. I will call you, if I need you. Please rest for the night." She answered and waved him off. "Have a lovely evening, Ms. Lloyd." He said and then took his leave.

When Rhonda's parents and butlers were fully gone, she took out a whistle from her pocket and blew in it. She gained everyone's attention immediately, since everyone knew what was going to happen now. "Alright, everybody! Follow me, so the party can begin!"

With everyone cheering in her wake, Rhonda started to walk up the stairs. Helga stuck close to Arnold, and he made sure to keep her close. Not just because he wanted her there, but also to make sure Aaron didn't snatch her away again like earlier.

As the huge amount of teenagers emerged into the hallway, Rhonda took out a key and opened the room in front of her. "Are you guys ready to party?!" she screamed and opened the door. Helga, Arnold and co. were the first ones to get in, and Helga almost dropped her chin to the ground at the sight. "Does she own her own private night club or something?!"

"Pretty close." Arnold answered and laid his hand on her waist. "Save me a dance?" he asked with a slight smirk. Helga giggled and took his hand. "I'll dance with you all night, if you want me to!" she answered.

Arnold was practically beaming at that answer. "Careful, what you promise me, Helga," he said and swung her around into a dance position. "I just might take you up on it."

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: So! The party's started! In case you're not sure: Yeah, Aaron did simply ask Helga to be nice, have a good time and all that. He figured the party itself was punishment enough for now xD Especially since he's got worse things planned ahead :P**

**Well, what do you know, I DID remember to say this again: I'll be having a friend over from Tuesday to Thursday which means NO writing for me! Boohoo! xD Naw, I'm sorry, I've missed this girl so much and the last time we saw each other was at her surprise party around a month ago, and before that we hadn't seen each other in three years O.o So please forgive me for going on a hiatus! (or whatever it's called xD) I probably won't be able to upload chapter 14 until Friday… since as soon as she leaves at 16:30, I'll be going to a theory in driving lesson, so I won't be home until late then xD Friday it is! :P**


	14. What kinda prank exactly?

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**For the first time in her life, Helga actually went along to one of Rhonda's parties and thereby saw her mansion. It was safe to say that she was both disturbed and impressed. Disturbed and impressed enough to need Arnold's help when getting out of the car to greet the butlers. Arnold also promised her to help her through the night.**_

_**Helga assured both Aaron and Rhonda that she'd behave and left everyone stunned when she impressed Mrs. Lloyd with the best manner she could muster. At this very moment, she also realized that Arnold – opposite their children years – seemed to have gotten very much used to all the different sides of Helga G. Pataki.**_

**Author's 1st note: Sorry for the hiatus! (Again whatever that's called xD I've just seen the word somewhere when it comes to take a break from stuff or something?) But, man, all of a sudden I'm busy. I've got a birthday party coming up, I need to study for my driving exam (the one with theory – not even sure how this whole driving thing works in America, so can't explain it very well xD) and omg… when that thing's done, I need a break! OwO**

* * *

Chapter 14: "What kinda prank exactly?"

Despite Helga and Arnold's promise to each other about dancing, the gang started by going to the bar. After a few drinks, Helga leaned close to Arnold to whisper into his ear. Or rather talk normally close to him, since whispering only would result in a 'what?' from him because of the loud music.

"How come the bartender don't mind this party?" Helga asked with a curious look. Arnold put his glass down to the table and frowned thoughtfully. "Because he's not a butler. He's the bartender. He gets paid to do exactly this."

"How can Rhonda's parents not find out?"

"Because he doesn't tell. Rhonda pays extra for these _secret_ parties."

"… Again; Why do I hate this broad?" Helga asked with a chuckle. Arnold chuckled too, starting to feel just a little bit dizzy. "Because she's… How did you put it? She's a skinny, stuck-up, arrogant, self-centered, wannabe - "

"Wannabe French, poodle walking, Barbie clothes wearing, 'look at me, I'm pretty' daughter of a - "

"Helga, dear!" Arnold then interrupted with his best Rhonda expression. Helga started laughing rather loudly at that. "You're… You're a little too good at that, football head." She observed and banged her forehead against the bar desk.

Sensing the opportunity to make Helga laugh, Arnold smiled and then made an obvious pout. "Why, Helga, whatever do you mean?" he asked with the same, way feminine voice and started bashing his eyelashes.

Helga dared to look up from the counter and then just started laughing again at the sight of Arnold with a duck face and flapping eyelashes. "Go away!" she shrieked teasingly and pushed at his face. The two teens started laughing again.

As the laughter wore off, Helga's smiled still remained. "You know… this is gonna be my first time seeing anyone in class drunk." She admitted and turned on her barstool, so she could observe the dancing people out on the floor.

Arnold turned too, starting to lean at the bar desk with his elbows. Helga glanced at him in the corner of her eye. While sipping at his drink in that position and in that outfit… she had labeled it as impossible, but he actually looked even more handsome like that. That's when she noticed Arnold's facial expression though. He seemed pensive, almost as if wondering whether or not he should say what he was thinking of saying.

"Have you… ever been drinking before, Helga?" Arnold then asked with a small gulp following. He had a feeling how this conversation would end up, but he felt a little brave this night. Thanks to Helga's really amazing mood and behavior around him lately, but also thanks to the alcohol, he'd managed to consume within the last hour.

"Sure I have." Helga answered and then took a big gulp from her rum and coke. She knew the questioning wouldn't end there and she prepared herself for however she'd phrase her next answer. "At… parties?" Arnold asked.

Helga sighed and shook her head. For now that was all she could reply. She didn't like talking about her family, even with Arnold who was the one who knew the most. Honestly, he knew everything. Except she hadn't really given her family life much detail.

Arnold bit at his lower lip. "I suppose you found your mom's liquor cabinet at some point?" he wondered aloud, but hoped for an answer from Helga. She sighed a bit and turned to look at him with a patient smile. She nodded. "You got a problem with that?" she asked with the friendliest tone she could handle.

Arnold shook his head. And it was true. He couldn't exactly blame Helga for stealing a bit from her mother's liquor cabinet. There was a lot of liquor in that thing and besides… ever since trying one of Miriam's 'famous' smoothies by accident, she knew for certain her mother just wasn't beat up and tired… she was pretty much an alcoholic too. After that Helga stole a bit from it here and there. In a way it was also a pathetic attempt at getting the alcohol away from her mother. As if drinking it herself would make her mom stop or something. She knew it wasn't that easy, but it was all she felt she could do. She didn't have it in herself to confront her mother about it.

Helga stared into her rum and coke. The mood had gotten from happy and cheerful to sad and awkward within seconds. She wanted to lift it so badly. She had promised herself to be on her best behavior, and she hadn't meant it as in: Behave properly. No, she had meant it as being her best self.

Helga noticed the music changing. That was nothing new, but now that she wasn't talking to Arnold, she could actually notice whatever song was playing. An electronic beat rang through the speakers. She wasn't sure if she even knew the song, until the lyrics started.

"_So we back in the club with the bodies rocking from side to side (side-side to side)_"

Helga gave a loud 'oh' in recognition. She hadn't expected to hear the same sound from Arnold next to her. They turned to look at each other in surprise. For a second then tension from before was still there. "You… like this song, Helga?"

Helga smiled and nodded. "Yeah… Usher and Pitbull aren't usually my thing, but… I don't know, this song's just always agreed with me. _Hands up, and suddenly we all got our hands up. No control - _"

" _-_ _of my body._" Arnold chimed in and got a little closer to Helga. "_Ain't I seen you before? I think I remember those_" he got awfully close to her, simply to match the lyrics of the song, she thought. She couldn't help smiling while she almost fell out of the chair because of him just getting closer and closer to her. "_eyes, eyes, eyes._"

"Arnold!" Helga shrieked when she lost her balance on the barstool. Arnold, having foreseen this, took her hand in his and helped her sit straight again. Green met blue when their eyes met. _It's not like I… haven't seen his eyes before, but…_ Helga thought and gulped a bit._ Did they just turn a million times more green?_

_Whoa… Helga's eyes are really blue. Like really, really blue… With this light and that eye shadow… they almost look like diamonds._ Arnold thought and started smiling a bit goofily. He already had her hand in his, but let go of it, so he could bow in front of her.

"My lady," Arnold extended his hand to her. "may I have this dance?" he asked in a ceremonial voice. Helga's eyes went wide and she felt butterflies soar through her stomach and around her heart. _Oh, my goodness! Arnold, asking me to dance? And not just casually, but actually like a real gentleman! Be still, my beating heart…_

Helga sighed dreamily and put her glass down on the counter. "Yes, you may, dear sir." She answered and took Arnold's hand. As she elegantly hopped off the chair, she felt him squeeze her hand just a little bit before they made their way to the dance floor.

* * *

"'_Cause, baby, tonight the DJ got us falling in love again…_"

Helga and Arnold erupted into a huge laughter and almost fell over each other in an awkward hug. "Arnold!" Helga said in a mix of shock, horror and alcohol. "You… cannot… dance… at… all!"

Arnold frowned but kept smiling. "What? You didn't like my moves?" he asked and was just about do to 'the chicken', until Helga took one of his hands. "No! Don't you dare! Oh, my god. Let's just get you away before you embarrass yourself. Even more that is."

With those words, Helga started pulling Arnold towards Phoebe and Gerald. "Hey, guys! Man, what a freak show you two just did!" Gerald said with a booming laughter afterwards. "Oh, shut up, tall hair boy, it was fun as hell." Helga answered with a big smile and pushed Arnold down to the couch next to Gerald. She then sat herself next to Phoebe at the other end.

"Well, you think this freak can handle anymore drinks?" Gerald asked Helga and pointed to Arnold. "Hell yes!" Arnold answered and made a fist pump. The gang laughed. "You're a light drunk, football head. But hey, let him have his fun." Helga answered and leaned back onto the couch.

"Anything I can bring for you, babe?" Gerald asked Phoebe as he stood up. He was wearing a huge smile while asking that and so was Phoebe. "I wouldn't mind a cosmopolitan, honey." She answered with a shy smile. "Cosmopolitan it is." He said and bend down in front of her. "Don't miss me too much."

Helga and Arnold rolled their eyes at each other, as Gerald kissed Phoebe's mouth. "Oh, yuck!" they said in unison and then started laughing at their friends, who looked only slightly annoyed at their teasing. "Oh, shut up. Come on, Arnold, help me carry the drinks." Gerald requested and pulled Arnold up by his collar.

When Gerald was about to pass the girls with Arnold's collar hanging in his hand, he was suddenly stopped. "Wait!" Arnold said with a slightly slurry voice and pulled his collar out of Gerald's grasp. He turned around and bend down to Helga.

"Anything I can bring for you, _babe_?" Arnold asked, obviously trying to imitate Gerald from before. Helga snickered, quickly catching his drift, and then folded her hands in front of her chest. "I also wouldn't mind a cosmopolitan, _honey_." She answered with a fake airy voice like Phoebe had done.

"Cosmopolitans for the ladies!" Arnold declared with another fist pump as he bend up again. Gerald rolled his eyes and took ahold of Arnold's collar again. "Come on, you drunken goof." He said and started pulling at him.

"Hurry back!" Helga said with a dramatic voice. She kissed the palm of her hand and then pretended to blow the kiss at Arnold. He smiled broadly and reached out to catch it. He put his hands to his heart and then bashed his eyelashes.

Helga laughed loudly and fell backwards out of pure laughter. The back of her head landed on Phoebe's lap and she saw the annoyed and yet amused look on her best friend's face. "You two seem awfully chummy." She observed.

"O-Oh, please… it's just too easy to make fun of you guys." Helga answered while trying to contain her laughter, though it was hard. "Maybe, but you two seemed really comfortable pretending to be a couple in love. And you were rolling on the floor with laughter while you were dancing with him." Phoebe observed aloud with a smile.

"How could I not?! Did you see Arnold's moves?" Helga sat up, chuckling rather than laughing now. "That guy could put Mick Jagger to shame!" she stated and laughed again. Phoebe was laughing herself at this point. "A-Alright, yeah, he… has some funny moves, but, Helga, if I didn't know any better, I would've thought you couldn't dance either."

"Who says I can?"

"The ballet training for one…"

"Oh… Ugh, fine, so maybe we were mostly goofing around rather than actual dancing. Sue us." Helga stated and crossed her arms with a smile. "You _did_ seem to have a lot of fun." Phoebe answered with a smug smile.

"… Yeah? It really was fun. Arnold's fun… Maybe this whole party isn't such a bad thing." Helga answered and turned to look at Arnold and Gerald who was up at the bar. "I think Arnold thinks you're a lot of fun too, Helga." Phoebe said.

"You know what?" Helga asked and turned to look at Phoebe with a small smile. "I-I think so too…" Phoebe's eyes went big. "R-Really? You really believe in it?" she asked with a big smile. Helga nodded. "I mean… lately we've gotten closer somehow… He seems really comfortable with me and… well…" she glanced towards the boys again. She smiled dreamily. "One thing's for sure, Phoebs… I've never been this close."

* * *

An hour later the gang was sitting together, boozing and laughing. "Hey! Where's Aaron anyway?" Helga asked, suddenly realizing she hadn't seen him since getting into the party room. Phoebe leaned close to her and pointed. "Over there." She answered.

Helga looked in the direction she was pointing and then rolled her eyes while snickering. "Of course Rhonda and Lila are all over him. My god, they're pathetic." She mumbled and took a big of her second cosmopolitan.

"Hey…" Arnold muttered all of a sudden. The gang looked at him. "What?" Gerald asked. "Shhh." Arnold answered and lifted his forefinger in front of his mouth. He was looking pensive before suddenly declaring loudly. "I knew it! That song! It's 'Just the girl' by The Click Five!"

Helga almost choked in her drink. "Really?" she asked and then listened to the lyrics. "_She's cold and she's cruel, but she knows what she's doing._" She smiled broadly. "Oh, yeah! I love that song." She exclaimed and lifted her cosmopolitan as if to toast for it.

"_She pushed me in the pool at our last school reunion._"

Gerald leaned close to Arnold. "Is it just me or does that song fit you and Helga perfectly?" he whispered. Arnold smiled and then nodded. "Yeah, I always thought so too. That's why I love it." He answered.

"_She laughs at my dreams, but I dream about her laughter._"

"Hey, Helga!" Arnold called. "What?" she answered and put her glass down. "Wanna dance again?" he asked.

"_Strange as it seems, she's the one I'm after._"

Helga looked pensive for a second but then stood up. "Of course, football head! Let's cut a rug." She answered and was already running towards the dance floor. Arnold started laughing as he followed her.

"'_Cause she's bittersweet. She knows me off of my feet._"

Gerald and Phoebe laughed at the sight of Arnold running up to Helga. She caught him before he fell down and then they started dancing goofily again. Gerald glanced towards Phoebe. _If anyone knows whether Helga's crushing on Arnold or not, it'd be Phoebe. Maybe I can drop a hint without busting Arnold._

"_And I can't help myself. I don't want anyone else._"

"Hey, babe." Gerald said and inched a little closer to Phoebe. "Yeah?" she answered without looking away from Helga and Arnold. "Look at our best friends. What do you see?" he asked and looked at them with her.

"_She's a mystery. She's too much for me._"

Phoebe frowned a bit at Gerald's question. _How odd. Gerald doesn't care all that much for Helga… Why would he ask that?_ Then her eyes went big. _Unless…_ She glanced at him in the corner of her eyes and then shrugged. "Oh, I don't know… A pair of big goofs?"

"_But I keep coming back for more. She's just the girl I'm looking for._"

Gerald laughed. "Well, obviously, but don't they seem… chummy, so to speak?" he asked. "Well," Phoebe said thoughtfully. "they _do_ seem to have become better friends lately." She answered. _Gotta be careful. I don't know why Gerald's asking about this. But if he's asking on behalf of Arnold, then I really want to know._

"_She can't keep a secret for more than an hour._"

Gerald and Phoebe looked towards Helga and Arnold again. They were currently holding each other's hands while rolling them around to the beat. Gerald decided to just go for it, so he chuckled a bit. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say my man has a shot with your girl."

_Oh, dear… Careful, Phoebe._ She thought to herself and took a small breath. "And if _I_ didn't know any better, I'd say Helga's got a chance with Arnold." She answered while eying him. Gerald kept looking stubbornly at her.

"_She runs on 100 proof attitude power._"

Phoebe turned to look at Gerald in a stubborn way, just as much as him. They kept glaring at each other like that, while trying to figure out why the other one was asking and answering the way they did.

"_And the more she ignores me, the more I adore her._"

Then both Phoebe and Gerald realized exactly why they were looking at each other like that. Phoebe gulped a bit. "R-Really?" she asked, careful to not tell on Helga in case her presumption was wrong.

"_What can I do? I'd do anything for her._"

Gerald gulped and nodded in a grave attitude. Phoebe gave a huge smile. "Really? Oh, my god, Gerald!" she shrieked and wrapped her arms around his neck. When she did that, Gerald realized the same thing she just had. "Seriously?" he asked and put his hands on her shoulder, so he could pull her away and look at her. "Helga feels the same way Arnold does?"

"Definitely!" Phoebe answered. Gerald sighed in relief and held her into his arms again. "Man, that's a relief. I was sure Helga was gonna deck him, if she ever found out."

"No way! She's… liked him for way too long to do that." Phoebe had been just about to admit Helga being love with Arnold for years. She figured that wouldn't be a good idea. Even if Arnold did like Helga, who was to say if it was on the same level?

"Yeah, Arnold's been in love with Helga for years himself, so I'm glad to hear that." Gerald answered. Opposite his girlfriend, he didn't think his sentence through. "Wait," Phoebe said and pulled back. "did you say _in love_? And _for years_?"

Then it dawned on Gerald and he smacked his forehead. "Man, am I losing my touch! I just can't lie to you…" he mumbled and then let the palm of his hand glide down his face and he sighed with a nod. "Yeah… he's a goner for that girl."

"… How many years?" Phoebe asked. Gerald frowned and shook his head. "No way. I'm not saying that. I'm not telling on my boy."

"You just did!"

"Yeah, as an accident! Now I had the chance thinking firsthand, and there's no way I'm telling he's been in love with Helga since preschool. Nu-uh. No way!"

"Since preschool?!"

"Yeah, since… damn it!" Gerald exclaimed and slapped his forehead again. "You gotta stop asking me questions like this, babe, you know I'm a horrible liar when it comes to you."

"Maybe this will cheer you up." Phoebe said with a big smile and took his hands. "Helga's been in love with Arnold since she was three years old too."

Gerald's eyes went big. "Are you for real?!" he asked. When Phoebe nodded, he smiled again. But then he frowned. "Then why did she treat him like crap?" he asked, which made Phoebe frown too. "Gerald, _you_ may accidentally tell on Arnold, but I won't do the same to Helga. The reason for that is her own business."

"Alright, I don't really care anyway. She's in love with him, and treating him good now, so…" Gerald said and then shrugged with a big smile. Phoebe smiled back. "We gotta get them together. They're both too scared at the other's reaction to take the first step."

"Got it. Now I can push him towards Helga with a good conscience. But let's promise each other not to tell them that we know, ok? I don't want Arnold to know I told on him. He'll kill me."

"Not telling!" Phoebe answered with her usual cheerful voice. _Oh, Helga. I'm so happy for you! Finally Arnold feels the same… or rather, now he's finally realized or… well, now your chances are definitely bigger than before. You just need a proper push._

* * *

Not too long after, Helga and Arnold came back with Helga having her arm wrapped over his shoulder. "I need a break from Mick Jagger over here. And I need some water." She said with a slurry voice. "Oh, then I'll take you." Phoebe said and stood up.

"Thanks, Phoebs." Helga answered and laid her arm over Phoebe's shoulders instead. "We'll be right back." Phoebe said to Gerald. "Be careful with her." Arnold said as he sat down next to Gerald. Phoebe couldn't help but smile at that. "I will." She answered and followed Helga out the room.

"Well, well, well," Gerald said with a smug smile and turned to look at Arnold who was just panting with a smiling face. "look who's all worn out from dancing with Helga _again_. Tell me, wasn't that move towards the end a bit daring?"

Arnold smiled as he remembered dipping Helga back towards the end of the song. "Yeah, I guess. Helga's probably on the right track. Some water might be good to sober up." He answered and looked around. "Not what I meant by daring, but here." Gerald said and held a glass out to him.

"Thanks." Arnold said and took it to drink from it. When he was done, he frowned. "Wait, if you had water, then why didn't you offer Helga some before?" he asked. "Easy." Gerald said and scooched closer. "I wanted to talk to you alone."

Arnold cocked an eyebrow. "Uh… ok. What's up?" he asked and started drinking from the bottle again. "Well, let's go back to my first statement: You're being pretty daring out there. Is it the alcohol talking or…?" Gerald asked.

Arnold put the bottle down and tipped his head from side to side as he thought about it. "Both yes and no. I'm drinking to become more daring, so in that sense yes." He answered. Gerald lifted his eyebrows. "And why no?"

Arnold smirked. "Because I made a solemn vow, Gerald." He answered. Gerald's eyes got a little bigger in disbelief. "A vow? About what?" he asked. Arnold lifted the bottle as if reading a declaration. "That from this night forward, I will _not_ hold back. I'm done being subtle."

Gerald smiled and clapped Arnold's shoulder in an impressed way. "Way to go, Arnold! So, you're going for it tonight?" he asked. Arnold looked unsure for a second. "Not completely. I don't want to just hook up with Helga at a party. That's not enough. I'm simply… doing my best to show my interest."

Gerald nodded. "Alright then. Ok. Baby steps, baby steps. I get that. Just promise me something." He said. Arnold looked at him again. "Promise what?" he asked. "Whatever happens tonight…" Gerald said with a smile. "just go with the flow."

* * *

"Thanks, Phoebs. I feel really sobered up now. I don't want to risk starting to fall around or something." Helga said appreciatively, as she and Phoebe walked out of the bathroom. "You're welcome, Helga. Glad I could help." Phoebe answered. "Speaking of _falling around_… I have a feeling Arnold's falling for you tonight."

Helga stopped dead in her tracks and looked at Phoebe with big eyes. "What?! Wh-Wh-Where did that come from? Jeez, Phoebe, don't spring stuff like that on me! You trying to give me a heart… Wait. What? What makes you say that?"

"Well, it just seems like Arnold's having a _really_ good time tonight. With _you_." Phoebe answered with a bit of a smug smile. Helga felt her cheeks reddening. "… You think so? I'd like to think so, it's just… we're both a little drunk, so who knows if he's just - "

"You're doing it again!" Phoebe interrupted, making Helga jump around to face her again. "Sheesh, Phoebe! Doing what?" she asked. "Being insecure! Stop thinking so much. That's always been your problem." Phoebe answered and put her hands on Helga's shoulders. "Promise me something. Tonight: Whatever may happen, just go along with it, alright?"

Helga blinked rapidly. Phoebe was usually never forceful unless she had to be. This must have meant a lot to her. "Wh-Whatever may happen…?" Helga asked. Phoebe nodded once in a very stubborn way. "Go along with it…" Helga repeated again and frowned a bit. "Did Gerald say something to you?"

Phoebe's breath got caught in her throat. _Helga's rather observational for one being drunk…_ She sighed a bit and then shook her head. "Why would you think that? I'm just saying this as your friend. Your _smart_ friend, may I point out."

"Show-off."

"Please, Helga, just promise me not to get defensive around him? Look at where you've gotten already! Arnold's dancing with you… voluntarily!"

"Yeah, that _is_ a pretty big step… Fine, I'll… take your advice. I was planning to be on my best behavior anyway. I might as well be like that around Arnold too. Besides, if I say something I regret, I can blame it on the alcohol!"

"Helga…"

"What? That's a brilliant plan. It makes me less nervous, that's for sure." Helga stated and then kept on walking. Phoebe shook her head in amusement and then followed her. "Well, that's fine then. Just be yourself, Helga, but, you know, the sweet yourself."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. Less sass, more sugar." Helga answered and stepped into the party room again. As soon as she did, she felt an arm wrap around her own. "Hey! What the - Aaron! What the hell are you doing?"

Aaron was currently holding Helga's arm in his own, while wearing his usual smug smile. "I take back what I said earlier." He answered. "Huh? What are you talking about?" Helga asked. "The thing about 'no surprises'. I do have _one_." He answered.

Helga's eyes went big. "Why, you lying piece of - " she was currently lifting her free arm to punch him, when she heard Phoebe's voice behind her. "Helga? Are you ok?" she asked. "Phoebs! Uh…" Helga looked back and forth between her and Aaron a couple of times before sighing. "I need to talk to Aaron for a second, ok? Tell the others I'll be right there."

"Oh… Uh, ok. Call me if there's any trouble, ok?" Phoebe requested and headed towards the boys. Helga turned to scowl at Aaron. "You fucking liar! What? What do you want me to do?" she asked. Aaron just kept smirking. "Don't worry. It's nothing huge. And to be fair: I didn't know this kind of chance would come when I said there wouldn't be any surprises."

"… Oh, god. What are you gonna make me do?" Helga asked in horror. "Rhonda just told me she's going to give people the chance to do a little karaoke, and I have picked the perfect song for you." Aaron answered.

Helga felt like throwing up and passing out at the same time. "What?! K-Karaoke?! Me?! Are you insane? I can't sing!" she shouted. Aaron rolled his eyes. "Don't lie to me. I heard you sing in the car on the way over. I know you can sing."

"Well… alright, fine! Technically I can hit a few notes, but I don't wanna sing in front of all of these people!"

"You don't have stage fright. I know that too."

"N-No, but…" Helga desperately searched for an excuse but then just sighed loudly in defeat. "There's no way I'm getting out of this, am I?" she asked. Aaron shook his head, which made Helga sigh again. "Did you at least choose a song, I know?"

"I have a feeling you know it." Aaron let go of Helga's arm. "Go back to the others. When Rhonda asks who wants to start out, be ready for me to call on you." He said and started walking towards a group of girls.

Helga sighed yet again and turned to walk towards Phoebe, Arnold and Gerald. "Hi, Helga!" Phoebe said when she saw her. She frowned when she noticed the sullen look on Helga's face though, as she plumbed down next to Arnold. "What's the matter?"

"Guess who decided to pull a prank on me?" Helga asked and crossed her arms. Gerald and Phoebe looked questioningly at each other, while Arnold kept looking worriedly at Helga. "Who? What prank?"

"Aaron. And you'll see." Helga answered and sighed again. She didn't care how anyone might understand the next thing she did. She put her head to rest on Arnold's shoulder as if exhausted from the conversation before.

Arnold's body was a huge mix of feelings. Anger, happiness and curiosity. Who did Aaron think he was, pulling a prank on Helga? He was angry, but he was also happy that Helga was seeking comfort from his shoulder. He was also curious. What kinda prank exactly?

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: So! Again: Tomorrow you won't have a new chapter. I'm going to celebrate one of my best friend's birthday. We're talking a 9 hour party with boozing at a night club, so there's no way in hell I'm capable of writing that day xD I'll see you at Sunday though! Hopefully I won't have hangovers XD And wish me luck getting home with the trains and busses… She lives kinda far away -.- Maybe my mom will be an angel and pick me up? *-***

**Songs:**

**Usher and Pitbull – "Dj got us falling in love"**

**The Click Five – "Just the girl"**


	15. I want to remember our first kiss

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**To Helga and Arnold's absolute pleasure, they've already been dancing a couple of times tonight. Though both their best friends made them realize they've been goofing off rather than actual dancing.**_

_**While Arnold admitted not holding back whatsoever to Gerald and thereby choosing to be more serious about his flirting with Helga, Helga herself swore to Phoebe to go along with whatever may happen this night. Unfortunately for her, Aaron decided to go back on his promise about there being no surprises this night. She's supposed to do karaoke with a song of his choice.**_

**Author's 1st note: Sorry about the wait!**

* * *

Chapter 15: "I want to remember our first kiss"

It didn't seem to matter how much Phoebe or anyone else asked. Helga still just had her head on Arnold's shoulder and refused to acknowledge anything else but that fact. "Oh, shut up already!" she said, when she finally had enough. "I'm trying to save some energy here. If I'm gonna do this, I'll need all the energy I can get."

"But, Helga, we just want to know what's going on! What's Aaron making you do?" Phoebe asked in concern. Helga just lifted her hand and waved it dismissively. "You'll see, but for now just… let me sleep or whatever." She answered and nuzzled a little closer to Arnold's neck.

"M-Maybe we should just let her do what she wants. She's obviously not budging." Arnold observed. _Not that I mind the 'not budging' part…_ He thought with a small smile._ In a way, this is so much better than her sitting on my lap. Maybe because it's just so sweet and simple… and self-initiated._

"Yeah, she even said it herself, babe," Gerald put his arm over Phoebe's shoulder. "we'll know when we'll know. Let her rest… on Arnold's shoulder." He pointed out. When she turned to look at him, he winked at her. "Oh!" she said, only just now realizing the very promising position of Helga and Arnold. "Alright then."

Arnold at this point just felt a somewhat familiar feeling of pure content. There was something extremely calming about having Helga on his shoulder, and the fact that he'd managed to sober up quite a bit by now made him happy, because he could appreciate it more.

"Don't worry, Helga," Arnold slowly laid his cheek against the top of Helga's head. "whatever it is you're supposed to do, we'll help you anyway we can." He finished and closed his eyes. "Thanks, you guys. I appreciate that." she murmured and started smiling.

Phoebe and Gerald turned to smile at each other. "I have an idea." Gerald whispered and carefully stood up from the couch. He walked around in front of Arnold and Helga while pulling out his phone. He crouched in front of them and took an inaudible picture of the two of them; Both smiling with their eyes closed while cuddling.

"Gerald!" Phoebe whispered with a big smile as he sat down next to her again. "What?" he asked. "What are you going to do with that picture?" she asked and looked at the picture on his phone. "Oh, they're just adorable."

"I know, right? I'm gonna send it to you, you'll send yours to Helga, I'll send mine to Arnold and they will both love us forever. Come on, Phoebe, wouldn't they both love a picture like this?" Gerald asked and started to type on his phone.

"I suppose they would." Phoebe glanced in their direction again. They both had the same blissful smile on their faces as they enjoyed the moment. "Oh, alright, but no more ninja pictures, ok? It feels weird."

"You got it, babe."

* * *

Some minutes later, the music in the room got mute, much to the displeasure of everyone in the room. Especially Helga since she knew what it meant. "Oh, no…" she mumbled and turned her head, so her forehead was resting on Arnold's shoulder.

"Attention, everyone!" Rhonda said in a mike close to the middle of one of the longer walls in the room. "Sorry to be a party pooper, but I do have a small surprise planned for us tonight. And, yes, you guessed right; It involves this microphone."

Half-drunken murmurs could be heard in the room, as people tried to figure out what the mike was for. "I thought it could be fun to do a little karaoke!" Rhonda then announced with a cheerful smile. The reaction was positive. Perhaps thanks to the alcohol, but nevertheless people _did_ cheer.

"Is there anyone out there who would like to start? Anyone who would volunteer a friend?" Rhonda asked. In the meantime Helga was mumbling a small mantra: "Please let Aaron forget, please let Aaron forget, please let - "

"I think Helga would love to start." Aaron then announced not too far away from where the gang was sitting. Helga started gritting her teeth. "Damn!" she whispered and removed her forehead from Arnold.

"Wait, hold on a second," Gerald leaned forward and looked at Helga in incredulity. "_You're_ going to sing up there? _That's_ what Aaron's tricked you to do? That's his _prank_?" he asked. Helga clicked annoyed with her tongue and nodded.

"Helga, you don't have to do this, if you don't want to." Arnold said while putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Helga smiled and patted his hand. "Oh, but I do. Wish me luck or… whatever." She answered and stood up.

Helga was just about to walk towards Rhonda, but then stopped. She turned around instead and grabbed Arnold's drink out of his hand. They all looked at her in surprise as she gulped down the whole thing. "Sorry, Arnold, but I needed that more than you." She said and handed him the glass.

Arnold kept looking at Helga as she strode towards Rhonda holding the mike. _Aaron, I both hate and love you for making Helga doing this…_ He thought with a small sigh. _I hate you for making Helga do this, because she obviously doesn't want to… and I love you for making Helga do this, because I've been wanting to hear her sing ever since we had to clean the cafeteria together._

"Oh… well, alright then. Take it away, Helga." Rhonda said in surprise and held the mike out to Helga. "Thanks." She mumbled and grabbed it roughly. "What would you like to sing?" Rhonda asked.

Helga smiled sarcastically and spoke into the mike. "Why don't you ask the guy who volunteered on my behalf?" she suggested and grit her teeth just a bit. _I swear to God, if he chooses a song that sucks, I'm gonna make sure he can never be sucked again._

Rhonda turned to look at Aaron with a questioning look. "Avery with 'Love me or let me go'." He answered with a simple smile. Helga's eyes immediately went wide. She glanced at him in disbelief, but he just winked at her. _Well… at least I like this song._ She thought and glanced back at her audience. _But why does he want me to sing that?_

"I don't know that one." Arnold stated and turned to look at Phoebe and Gerald. "Me neither." Gerald answered and shrugged. "I do." Phoebe replied with a crooked smile. "Really? What's it like?" Arnold asked. "You'll hear in a second. In a way, it's very… Helga." Phoebe answered and nodded a bit as if confirming her own words to herself.

Arnold frowned a bit and spun to look up at Helga again. She looked slightly uncomfortable, but also looked ready to just suck it up and do it. She was good at that, and it wasn't like she had stage fright, so Arnold wasn't really worried or anything. He just couldn't get the fact that Aaron chose this song for Helga out of his head. _I gotta really listen to the lyrics…_

The music began and a small voice in the background of the song started singing: "_Love me or let me go. Go. Go. Love me or let me go. Go. Go._" Helga then took a deep breath, closed her eyes and started to sing herself. "_Stuck-Stuck in your picture perfect fantasy world. Keep run in circles in your merry go around. So for once, don't try to tell me which way to go._"

Arnold's eyes went wide. Helga was mostly standing there, bopping her head just a little bit to the music with her eyes closed, and yet she sounded so good. People in the room even started cheering. It obviously surprised her, because suddenly her eyes popped open.

"_I'm getting tired of trying to fit your description: Of that girl, she's so Barbie, she's so fiction. Wake up. Your mind is somewhere stuck in a dream._" Helga sang, a little less nervous than before. When a couple of people in the crowd started singing along, she even smiled a bit.

"_I'm suffocating. I need to know if this isn't real. Give me back all my kisses. I should have kept them for somebody else. Baby, I'm real. I'm not your plastic princess. Maybe you need to get over yourself. I'm not that naïve. There's more to me. Love me or let me go._"

Arnold's confused frown got deeper as he glanced towards Aaron, who was sitting not too far away from where Helga continued singing. Almost as if Aaron could feel Arnold's eyes on him, he turned to look at him. He simply kept bouncing a bit to the music as he smiled.

Arnold scowled and then looked away. _Is he trying to tell me something? That Helga will leave me if I don't do something soon or something? That I'm not accepting all of her?_ He wondered in his head._ I am! I made that clear earlier! Maybe I need to remind her… Uh, or him. For all I know, Helga doesn't think the same way he does._

_What the heck is with this choice of song?_ Helga thought as she kept singing. _What is Aaron trying to accomplish exactly? Is it just fun for him to see me do things that are out of my comfort zone? Well, joke's on you, Aaron! There's no way in Hell, I'm giving you the satisfaction of seeing me getting all shy up here. Nu-uh. Want a show? I'll give him a show!_

"_And you know there's been too much wrongs so, boy,_" Helga sang and then lifted her hand to make her index finger point down. "_get down on your knees if you want me. Yeah, you better treat me right if,"_ she stretched her left leg back, ready to kick it high. "_you wanna kick it with me_."

As Helga kicked at just the right time the crowd cheered. Luckily, she knew the right way to kick without revealing any undergarments. That kinda ability was necessary if you wore a dress and was a tomboy all through your childhood.

"_(Love me or let me go. Go. Go.) You wanna kick it with me. (Love me or let me go, whoa oh.) Boy, get down on your knees. (Love me or let me go, whoa oh.) I'm letting you know._" Helga kept singing, surprising everyone in the crowd with how much she suddenly got into her small performance.

Aaron and Arnold's eyes were practically popping out of their eye sockets. _Whoa!_ They thought in unison and started smiling. Arnold leaned close to Gerald. "Did you have any idea that Helga could… do that?" he asked, referring to nothing specific really. "Hell no! We should get her to perform at our prom or something! She's good! Phoebe," Gerald said and leaned a little forward to get his girlfriend's attention. "you knew Helga could be like this?"

Phoebe was currently just staring with big eyes at Helga shimmering with her shoulders on the stage. She was blinking and just shook her head slowly in disbelief. "I had… no clue." She answered honestly.

"What! How can you not know?"

"Helga's a secretive girl! Besides… is it really that surprising?" Phoebe asked. Gerald and Arnold looked at each other for a second. "How is it not?" they asked in unison. "Think about it," she suggested and turned to look at them. "Helga's not afraid of the stage, she played Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, she was on the top of our float, she did impressions in front our entire class at least twice and she's not exactly a gray mouse."

Gerald and Arnold looked at each other again and then back at Helga. She was at this very moment having the time of her life it seemed. They started smiling. "Alright, good point, babe." Gerald said and nodded.

Arnold's smile turned into a smirk. "Yeah, you're right. This isn't as surprising as it seemed at first. Whoo-hoo, Helga!" he suddenly yelled followed by a laugh. Helga, of course noticing the outburst, laughed a bit. "_Love me or let me go!_" she made a fist pump as she sang that.

The crowd started applauding Helga as she panted just a bit. She then curtsied with an obvious sarcastic smile and walked towards Rhonda and Aaron. Her smug smirk remained on her lips, as she bend forward a little to meet Aaron's eye level, since he was sitting down.

"Here you go, big boy." Helga said and handed Aaron the mike. While smiling in disbelief he took it. "Let that teach you a lesson. _No one_ catches Helga Pataki off guard." She said, clapped his cheek a couple of times and then sauntered towards her friends.

Gerald lifted his hand and whistled as Helga approached them. A big smile appeared on her face as she sat down and took ahold of Arnold's collar. "Did you guys see that?!" she asked happily and let go. "Aaron's face when I just… Oh, my god! That was the best thing _ever_!"

They others laughed at Helga's energy. She sighed happily and then looked around the table. "I need a drink after that. Who's with me?" she asked and stood up. "I am." Arnold answered and copied her movement. "After all, you _did_ steal my drink earlier."

* * *

Another hour later, the karaoke was still going on. Helga, to both her luck and slight unhappiness, wasn't put on the spot again. She was happy boozing and talking with Arnold, Phoebe and Gerald. At least until someone decided to interfere.

"Hey! How about getting Arnold up singing?" someone in the crowd suddenly suggested. Arnold, in the middle of sipping form his drink, popped his eyes open and spit a little of the drink out. He coughed a little bit and looked at the crowd. "What? Me?"

"Of course! You haven't sung yet and we've all seen you singing like a million times before!" Sid answered with a big encouraging smile. "Oh, yeah!" Helga said and smirked satisfied at Arnold. "I had completely forgotten. _You_ were on the Spring Concert with me, _you_ played the banana with Gerald as the fruit at my play _and_ you sang 'Without you I'm nothing' with Gerald playing the piano. You gotta get up there too!"

"Well, all that's true, I guess, but… Wait, how do you know about that Dino Spumoni and Don Reynolds song?" Arnold asked, realizing what Helga had just said. Her eyes went big for a second, but then she just scowled. "Get your priorities straight, bucko! It doesn't matter how I know," she said, while reminding herself exactly _why_ she didn't want him to know how she knew. "I just do! Now get up there!"

"W-Well, still, I… all that was back in fourth grade - "

"Hey!" Gerald interrupted, earning the attention of the two blondes. "How about getting Helga to come up and sing with you?" he suggested. Helga and Arnold looked at each other as Phoebe gave Gerald a hidden thumbs-up.

"Would you… consider that?" Arnold asked, almost wanting to kiss Gerald for suggesting that. _Singing together with Helga…_ he thought with a small smile._ That's worth the embarrassment. Without a doubt._

Helga was biting at her lower lip with a pensive look on her face. The crowd around them started cheering for Arnold to get up there already and those who heard Gerald's suggestion, wanted Helga to join him.

"Oh, brother." She sighed. "Alright, alright." She said and grabbed her glass. She emptied it within three seconds and then put it down with a clunk. "Really?" Arnold asked and stood up. She nodded and stood up as well. "Can't leave you out of my sight for one second, can I?"

Arnold just smiled giddily and took Helga's hand. "What do you want to sing?" he asked as he pulled her towards the mike. "Oh! Uh…" she said and narrowed her eyes, as if that would make her brain work faster.

"'Shut up and kiss me'!" Phoebe yelled. Some people in the crowd concurred and started hollering at the thought of Arnold and Helga singing a song like that. They looked embarrassed at each other. "Uh… w-well, I don't have any other ideas, so… if you're cool, football head, then I am too." She said as she scratched her head a bit.

"I'm… cool." Arnold answered and took an inaudible deep breath. _I know that one… Oh, gosh._ He thought and took a mike. Helga did the same and looked towards Rhonda, who was in the middle of choosing the song. "You got it, princess?"

"It's right here!" Rhonda answered. "Wait!" Helga spun to look at Arnold. "It's a one person song. Do we just sing everything together or…?" she asked. "Oh, uh… maybe we could just take four lines each and then do the chorus together?" he suggested.

Helga nodded. "Sure." She answered and rotated to look at Rhonda again. "We're ready, princess!" she called to her. "And so is the machine!" Rhonda answered and pushed a couple of buttons. "There we go!"

"I'll start." Helga quickly said as she scanned the lyrics on the screen. _In a way… this is kinda our song. At least for me, it is._ She thought with a smile and opened her mouth. "_You're too loud. I'm so hyper. On paper, we're a disaster, and I'm driving you crazy. It's my little game._"

_I need to listen to more music with Helga in mind. Songs can match a relationship so well, and if Helga do have feelings for me… then this is just perfect._ Arnold thought and opened his own mouth. "_I push you, and you push back. Two opposites so alike that every day's a roller coaster, but I'm a bump you'll never get over._"

Helga started smiling as she sang along with Arnold. "_This love-hate relationship. You say you can't handle it, but there's no way to stop this now, so shut up and kiss me. Kick, scream, call it quits, but you're just so full of it. 'Cause it's too late to close your mouth, so shut up and kiss me._"

The more Helga and Arnold sang, the more they got into it. They started forgetting their surroundings, just like they did at the cafeteria that day. They swung their hips, walked in circles around each other and even took each other's hands from time to time.

"_So shut up and kiss me!_" the two teens finished and bowed in front of each other. As the crowd applauded them, they started laughing in embarrassment. "Kiss!" someone suddenly yelled. Arnold and Helga froze on the spot. _What?!_ They thought in unison.

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" the people in the room started to chant. "You can't sing a song about kissing if you don't end it with a kiss!" someone yelled over the others and the chanting continued. _No! Not like this! Not because everyone is forcing us to._ Is what both of the blondes were thinking.

_But… a kiss on the cheek might be ok._ Arnold wondered in his head and looked at Helga. She was scowling at the crowd and was obviously about to roar at them, when he put his hand on her shoulder and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

Helga froze. _Huh…? Wh… What just…?_ She thought and touched her cheek before turning to look at Arnold. He shrugged innocently. "Since you already kissed my cheek twice tonight…" he said as an excuse and pushed at her back a little.

_Oh… my… dear… God!_ Helga thought in her head, as Arnold led the both of them back to Phoebe and Gerald. The crowd wasn't completely satisfied with the kiss, but their yells were drowned out by both Helga and Arnold's lovesick thoughts.

"Nice way to get out of that." Gerald observed with a smile as the two blondes sat down. "Uh, thanks." Arnold answered and took his glass in his hand. He gulped everything down in one go. _Can't believe I just did that!_ he thought as he put the glass down. _I wonder if Helga's mad?_

Arnold dared to look at Helga, but her expression gave him nothing. She was just rummaging through her purse next to her. She pulled out one of her small, pink notebooks and pulled out a pencil she had stuck in it and started writing.

"You brought a notebook with you, Pataki? Why?" Gerald asked. "None of your beeswax." Helga answered. Not with the usual angry scowl though, but more in a 'don't talk to me right now, I need to do this' kinda tone.

Arnold wanted nothing more than to peek at what Helga was writing, but decided against it. Who knew, maybe that thing was her diary? If that were the case, he'd feel bad about sneaking a look at it. "Anyone I can get a drink for?" he asked and stood up.

"Rum and coke." Helga answered and stopped writing. She sped-read her words and then gave an approving nod. _I must remember to continue this poem tomorrow. In this half-drunken haze, my words won't seem to seem as beautiful as usual._ She thought as she pushed the book back into her purse.

* * *

Yet another hour later, Helga started to feel a bit dizzy. _Thank God I'm not a light drunk. _She thought as she watched Arnold wave his head from side to side._ Arnold on the other hand is starting to act funny though. He's kinda cute while drunk._

A new song started over the speakers and both Arnold and Helga gave a surprised 'oh' in unison. They looked smilingly at each other. "You like Jesse McCartney?" Helga asked in slight surprise. "I don't hate him, that's for sure." Arnold answered.

A slow beat picked up its pace and then Helga closed her eyes and mumbled the words. "_Oh, that body's like music to my ears…_" Arnold turned to look at her again and noticed the obvious smile on her face. "_Oh, that body's like music to my ears…_" she whispered. He smiled immediately. "_Oh, that body's like music to my ears…_" he sang along. She turned to smile at him as they sang together. "_'Cause what you want is right here…_"

Arnold, feeling brave again, put his glass down and extended his hand to Helga. "May I have this dance…? Again." he asked with a smirk. She eyed it for a second. _Th-This song…? Really? It's a little… We can't exactly goof around like before to this. I do like this song though… Oh, to hell with it!_

"Yes, you may." Helga answered and took his hand. Arnold lifted both of them up from the couch and walked with her to the dance floor, which wasn't empty, but not filled with people either. "_Now, I don't speak Spanish, Japanese or French,_" Jesse McCartney sang over the speakers, while the two blondes found an empty spot on the dance floor. "_but the way that body's talking definitely makes sense._"

As Arnold let go of Helga's hand, she felt the liquor and her own very good mood working its way around her hips. Every time Jesse McCartney sang '_her body_' she twisted it just a tiny bit in a flowing movement.

Arnold had to gulp a little at the sight. Doing the tango as kids and knowing she did ballet, it was safe to say that she was probably a good dancer. But seeing her move her hips like Shakira made him nervous in ways only boys could understand. _Thank God, grandma decided to teach me different dance techniques along with karate through the years._ He decided to thank Gertie later for that.

"_The way she moves around, when she grinds to the beat._"

Helga smiled cheekily and then walked around Arnold, matching the beat perfectly. He kept his eyes on her, not minding how she took control. It shouldn't surprise him. It was Helga after all, but he didn't plan to let her lead the whole song through.

"_Breaking it down articulately._"

Again, matching the beat of the song perfectly, Helga lifted her arms and made her hands into fists, looking as if she was driving a motorcycle. She then bend her knees a little getting closer to the floor, and continuing that in a jerky motion, she got as close to the floor as possible, without actually touching it, and stood straight up again. The move had been more playful than skanky, as most girls tend to do and Arnold just _had to touch her_ now.

"_It's her… her body, her body, her body language._"

As Helga made that twist with the right side of her hip again, Arnold dared to lay his hand gently on it. Her twist stopped for a mere second in surprise, but then she just smiled and kept going. She looked into his eyes and put her hand on his shoulder.

"_It's her… her body, her body, her body language._"

Helga didn't feel insecure, as much as she felt rather vulnerable. Here she was, dancing with the boy of her girlish dreams – the boy that made her girlhood tremble – and to a song so heavily focused on a girl with some serious body language. She trusted her own body and knew she'd gotten way too many dance lessons to not be able to dance, but she still would've wished she'd gotten a bit more to drink first!

As the song continued and they stayed in this swaying position for a bit, Helga slowly felt less vulnerable. She lifted her arms a bit and made both sides of her hips sway. Arnold, also feeling less nervous, put his other hand on her hip. He didn't know the song, so it wasn't like he could just let the lyrics flow into his head and give him ideas on what to do. He did his best to listen though.

"_Shorty, let me whisper in your ear._"

_Perfect_. Arnold thought with a smile. When Helga noticed that certain smile, she let her hips move only, as he snuck behind her, while letting one of his hands stay on her body and thereby caressing her stomach just a bit.

"_Tell you everything you wanna hear._"

Arnold didn't know how Helga felt about him standing this close to her. _Behind her_ even, but he was braver than usual (thank you, alcohol) and just tried to go with his instincts. He put his other hand on her hip and snuck just a little closer to her, so his mouth was next to her ear.

"_You got my vote: Hottest Girl Of The Year._"

For a second he regretted their position deeply. This particular line felt a bit odd. Not that it didn't fit Helga… but he did find her more beautiful than hot. To him, hot was something food and certain drinks were supposed to be. It wasn't a compliment. It seemed so demeaning. This typical 'piece of meat' comment. 'Beautiful'. Yeah, that fit her much more.

"_Let's have a celebration, baby._"

Helga on the other hand wasn't listening to the lyrics or the beat of the music anymore. Feeling Arnold's breath tickling down her neck made her knees wobble. _He's so close!_ _I can't breathe… _She thought with an inaudible gulp. _Oh, my goodness. If this is a dream, don't ever wake me up! If you do, I'll wrap your tongue around your neck!_

"_Parlez vous francais?_"

Reminding herself yet again that she had promised herself and Phoebe to just, go with whatever would happen this night, Helga turned to glance at Arnold with a small smile. _If I'm this nervous, Arnold most be shaking to his very core. There's no way this gentle guy isn't nervous about being this close to a girl. Helga Pataki or not._

"_Konichiwa, come and move in my way._"

Seeing Helga's smile made Arnold smile too. _Oh, god, she's so beautiful… and she seems ok with this. Maybe I could try something… _he thought pensively and then rearranged the position of his hand a bit. _If she seems uncomfortable, I'll let go right away._

"_Hey, little chica from Guadeloupe._"

Helga felt her heart stop beating, when Arnold's palm laid against the back of her hand and his fingers intertwine gently with her own. Their hands had touched before, but… not like this! She spread her fingers a bit to give him room, and she gulped when he held her hand tightly.

"_That thing you got behind you is amazing._"

_Alright, steady, Helga, old girl… If Arnold has the guts to do that, you have the guts to do this too._ Helga pep talked herself and lifted their now tangled hands above their heads in a fluid and slow movement.

"_I don't speak Spanish, Japanese or French, but the way that body's talking definitely makes sense._"

Arnold's eyes were glued to Helga's temple, as he let her lift their right arms above them. They both let their arms fall slowly again, but to his surprise, she bend her arm back, so their arms landed behind his neck.

"_It's her… Her body, her body, her body language. It's her… Her body, her body, her body language._"

Helga took a deep breath, closed her eyes to let everything around her disappear and then swayed her hips very closely to Arnold's. She wasn't quite touching him, but it was close enough for him to get the message. What it was, didn't even she know.

"_The way she moves around, when she grinds to the beat._"

_Oh… God._ Arnold thought as he felt Helga's backside hit him here and there. _I want her closer and yet I want her to go away! Please, dear body, don't react at this. Please don't…_ In a desperate attempt at stopping her swaying against him, he put both of his hands on her hips.

"_Breaking it down articulately._"

Remembering Helga's little dance move at this line earlier, Arnold gave her a toothy grin when she turned to look at him. Making her move with him, they made a jerk motion towards the floor and then stood up straight again.

"_It's her… Her body, her body, her body language. It's her… Her body, her body, her body language._"

Helga giggled a bit, feeling less and less nervous. She kept her right arm twisted behind Arnold's neck and put her left hand atop his left, which still held her hip firmly. _I'm feeling dizzy for so many reasons right now…_

"_That make me want to say hey… Hey! Hey… Hey! Hey… Hey! It's her body, her body, her body language. Come on!_"

With the small instrumental moment in the song, Arnold grabbed the chance of getting out of the promising position to get into a less dangerous one. He took Helga's hands in his own and lifted their arms above them to swirl her around to face him.

"_I'm lifting up my voice to say, that you're the hottest girl in the world today._"

Helga swayed her pelvis from side to side, while Arnold let their arms fall slowly to their sides again. He already felt less nervous again and simply wanted to give it his all dancing with this amazing girl in front of him.

"_The way you shake, you got me losing my mind._"

As Jesse McCartney sang the last word in the former sentence, Helga arched her back so her torso went into a vertical position. Arnold quickly let go off one of her hands and used it to support her lower back. He put his leg forward to get a better hold and had to gulp at the sight of her leaning back up again.

"_You're banging like a speaker box. Turn around, the party stops._"

Arnold gave a crooked smile and pushed at Helga's hands to make her stretch her arms. She followed his lead, as he then pulled her back, swirled one of his arms above her, so she got into his embrace and had to lean at one of his arms for support.

"_Universal lady, let me take you away._"

Helga, definitely starting to feel it, smiled boldly at him and swirled right back out. Arnold's eyes followed her, as she started to step back while pulling him with her. He followed gladly while he watched her twist her free arm over her head in a snaky motion.

Falling for Helga's conscious teasing, Arnold smiled cheekily and pulled her roughly back into his arms. She gasped a little as her free hand landed on his shoulder. She could feel his thigh between her own and felt herself forced to lean more and more backwards.

Helga lifted one of her legs to use it as support. She snaked it around Arnold's waist, and he caught himself enjoying this new position very much. A little too much maybe. He slowly lifted the both of them up and twirled her in his arms again.

Helga felt her breath grow heavier and heavier and so did Arnold. _Is it just me or… is this dance starting to feel pretty… intense?_ Helga thought as she stared into Arnold's eyes. They were currently just swaying a bit to the beat, with Helga having her arms laying lazily over his shoulders and Arnold having his arms snaked around her waist.

That was when Arnold noticed that his subconscious had made him pull the both of them closer to the wall. When he did notice, was when Helga's back hit it. She gasped slightly and was about to turn to look what had hit her, when her gaze was pulled back to Arnold's when he lifted his hand to her cheek.

Arnold looked at Helga with such an intense gaze that she stopped breathing for a couple of seconds. _Oh, God, is… That look… Is he going to…?_ She bit at her lower lip a bit and moved just a tiny bit closer to him.

_What am I doing?_ Arnold thought to himself and moved a bit closer to Helga. _I don't know why I grabbed her cheek like this. I-I just did… Am I really gonna kiss her like this? Drunk at a party? I want to so badly that my body's moving on its own, but… will she even remember this kiss? Will I? I want to remember our first kiss! I want it to be… special._

Helga's mind was a complete mess though. _This… This is too much. We're so close. This is not a play, it's not a scene in a movie, i-it's real and he's standing so close… My heart feels like it's gonna jump out of my chest. I-I can't breathe… I need to lie down._

Arnold was desperately searching for an answer in his head, when he felt a strange force at the arm he was holding Helga's waist with. He opened his eyes and noticed her eyes were closed. That wasn't what was odd though, the odd part was that she wasn't holding herself up. As his eyes dilated, he realized she had just passed out on him.

_I don't know how to feel about this. I feel disappointed and relieved all at the same time. Thank God, I didn't kiss her. She would definitely have forgotten._ Arnold thought and smiled a bit. Helga's sleeping face was so peaceful. He leaned in a bit and kissed the corner of her lips. "Time to go home, Helga." He said and lifted her up into his arms.

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: OK, before you chew my ass off for cockblocking Arnold yet AGAIN, listen to me: Who in their right mind wishes for their first kiss with the person they're in love with, to be while they're drunk? Really? Besides, I have this really cute out-of-the-blue first kiss planned for them later on, so don't strangle me mentally please! xD**

**Btw, I have no clue if "gray mouse" makes sense in America, tell me if it doesn't. In Denmark it's a term for a shy and cautious person.**

**I also don't know the exact title of the Dino Spumoni and Don Reynolds' song, but I figured that "Without you I'm nothing" was a qualified guess xD**

**Credits:**

**Avery – "Love me or let me go"**

**Orianthi – "Shut up and kiss me"**

**Jesse McCartney – "Body language"**


	16. I can save my congratulations for later

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**To everyone's surprise Helga made an excellent performance and shocked Aaron enough to leave her alone for the rest of the night. This whole karaoke thing also got her a chance to sing with Arnold, which they both enjoyed to the max.**_

_**Later they danced again, though this time not as silly as before. Actually, it resulted in a quite intense situation. So intense, that when Arnold was on the verge of kissing her, Helga passed out. It was Arnold's cue to take her home.**_

**Author's 1st note: So! I'm just about to start writing this chapter and yet again: I have no clue how it'll end up xD That's the funny thing about me, I just write. My fingers have their own life :P My creativity is unstoppable! *Epic music plays in the background, as I fist pump on a roof***

* * *

Chapter 16: "I can save my congratulations for later"

"Hey, guys?" Arnold asked as he approached Phoebe and Gerald, only just noticing now, that they were making out. Their lips moved apart and they turned to look at him. "What?" Gerald asked, before he noticed Helga in his arms.

"Oh, my goodness! Helga!" Phoebe stood up from the couch and walked over to Arnold. "Is she alright?" she asked. Arnold smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that she is. I think the dancing and the alcohol just got a little too much. I'll grab a taxi and get her home, ok?"

Phoebe smiled and nodded gratefully. "Here's her purse." She said, turned around to grab it and then put it on Helga's stomach. _Arnold in a nutshell… He really is very caring. Oh, please, let this relationship develop soon. Let nothing stand in their way. Oh, speaking of standing in their way…_ "Anyone who knows where Aaron is?"

"Uh, no, but please don't tell him I'm taking Helga home, ok?" Arnold begged and looked at Gerald. "Of course, buddy, we won't tell. Just get her home safely." He answered and pulled Phoebe down next to him again. "Now, where were we?"

Arnold shook his head in amusement and left his friends to their own business. He sneaked through the horde of people and made it out into the hallway. As he was about to descend the stairs, he heard a door open behind him. "Oh!"

Arnold turned around, when he heard the familiar voice. "Oh, hey, Lila." He said with a friendly tone. "Gosh, Arnold. Is Helga ok?" she asked and approach them, eying Helga worriedly. "Yeah, she's fine. I think it's more due to her being tired than anything else." He answered. "Would you mind calling a cap for us? My, uh… hands are sorta tied."

"Oh, of course!" Lila answered and pulled out her cell phone from her dress. Her rather short, dark green dress, Arnold noticed with a cocked eyebrow. It almost looked like a more fancy version of the same dress she wore in fourth grade. And therefore it was even shorter than back then. _Sheesh, it's true what they say: It's always the quiet ones. Wait, what does that make me?_

"Thank you ever so much." Lila said as she finished the call and hung up. "The taxi will be here in ten minutes." Arnold smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Lila. Goodnight." he said and took the first step down the stairs. "Oh, Arnold. Can I ask you something?" Lila asked. Arnold turned around gently, making sure not to wake Helga or bang her head into the wall. "Yes?"

"… Is something going on between you and Helga?" Lila asked with slightly narrowed eyes. "Uh, wh-what makes you think that?" Arnold asked, but felt like slapping his forehead at the dumb question.

"Well, you two just seem to spend ever so much time together. Ever since that food fight, you've gotten… closer, it seems. Also, I sorta saw you two dancing earlier. It was ever so intense." Lila answered with an innocent and honest smile.

"Oh… Uh… Well, yeah, we… I don't know, I guess we… Look, Lila, I don't know what to answer, I'll admit that." Arnold said and it was true. He didn't mind Lila knowing he had feelings for Helga per se… It was more the fact the she might tell Rhonda and she would tell… well, everyone.

"Oh, that's perfectly fine, Arnold, I was just a bit curious. It seems your lack of answer has given me a reply nevertheless though." Lila said with a slight smirk. "Huh? What do… you mean?" Arnold asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Hmm…" Lila lifted her hand to her chin thoughtfully. "Just that… it's been an ever so long time coming." She answered and turned on her heels. "Huh…?" Arnold murmured and looked at her, as she walked back to the party.

_A long time coming…? Does that mean she knows about my feelings for Helga? B-But I never told her! I never told anyone until I told Gerald! Wait. Is it that obvious? Then maybe everyone else knows too… Oh, God, that would make Helga now too right?!_ Arnold felt a surge of panic run through him, until he realized something. _No way. Gerald didn't even realize and he's my best friend. No way would anyone else figure it out then._

With the reassuring thought, Arnold continued his way down the stairs. He looked at Helga, as she snuggled closer to him in her sleep. A big smile spread across his face. _But they will know some day… and so will she._

* * *

It was safe to say that the cabdriver was confused, when he saw Arnold carrying Helga around in his arms, but he didn't question it. As they approached Helga's house, Arnold rummaged through her purse to find her keys. It was easy. She had them in her wallet for some reason. Quite clever actually with all those other things that was in the purse.

"Thank you. Have a good night." Arnold said as he carried Helga out of the cab. "You too, son. Take care of your girlfriend now." The cab driver answered and turned on the car again. Arnold felt a heat wave run through him at the word 'girlfriend'. _M-Maybe someday… Hopefully._

Arnold went up the stairs very carefully. He didn't wish to wake the rest of the Pataki household, nor did he wish to wake Helga. Not that he could, it definitely didn't seem likely at least. While still holding her in his arms, he pushed the key into the keyhole and managed to open it.

He snuck his way inside and noticed the light was still on. "Hello? Is anyone awake?" he asked and used Helga's legs to close the door behind him. He followed the hallway and looked into the kitchen. He almost gasped, when he saw a figure hunched over the kitchen desk.

"… Mrs. Pataki?" Arnold asked gently and walked a bit closer. He went around her and saw that she was either sleeping or passed out. She was snoring, so he guessed it was the first option. He wrinkled his nose, when he noticed the almost empty glass in her hand. The place smelled like martinis.

"That bad, huh…?" Arnold mumbled and looked at Helga. _I had no idea it was this bad… Her father probably doesn't even realize his wife is down here._ He sighed and walked out into the hallway again. He walked up the stairs and noticed a door at the far end being open.

Curious, Arnold walked to the door and looked inside. It was dark, but it was obvious it was a bedroom. With an empty bed. "Her father's not even home." He observed with a disapproving shook of his head.

_Is he just working…? That could be it; he's a workaholic after all. He could also be… cheating._ Arnold's thought became more and more clouded, so he just went into Helga's room instead. He laid her gently on the bed and looked around.

Arnold walked over to Helga's window and closed the curtains. He turned to look at her again. She was still sleeping peacefully, but this was the hard part. Should he put her pajamas on for her… or should he just leave her dressed in that expensive gown?

Arnold felt a familiar heat rise up in his cheeks and other places at the mere thought of undressing her. _No! Definitely not! No undressing her. She doesn't even care that much about the dress. Who cares if it gets wrinkled? Not me. Not her._ He sighed in relief.

Arnold did walk to the end of the bed to take Helga's stilettos off though. He snuck them off without much trouble and put them gently close to her closet. He heard her shift in her bed and when he turned to glance at her, the cut in her dress revealed much more of her thigh than before.

Arnold almost jumped three feet into the air at the sight. "Control yourself!" he begged himself and shook his head. He couldn't help walking over to her though. He looked at her for a bit and then took ahold of her blanket to cover her.

When Helga was completely covered, Arnold cocked his head to the side. "I remember seeing your peaceful sleeping face back when you had amnesia… How come I didn't realize I was in love with you there?" he wondered aloud and sat down on his knees. He laid his arms on the bed and gazed lovingly at her.

"How come I've been so slow…? Well, I have my theory, but… still…" Arnold muttered, feeling his eyelids grow heavy. "I just want you to… fell the same… about me… Is that… possible… Helga…?"

Arnold could barely keep his eyes open at this point. He was exhausted and didn't even know what time it was. Having his head this close to Helga's gave him a sense of peace, he didn't often feel. "Please," he muttered and put his hand on top of hers. "fall in love with me too… Fall in love with me quickly…"

And with those begging words, Arnold fell asleep.

* * *

As Helga's slumber became lighter and lighter, she slowly shifted in her bed a little. Her conscious woke up very slowly as it always did and she yawned a bit. "Ow…" she mumbled when she could feel a headache creep up her cranial edge. _Drank too much… Oh, God. I don't even remember how I got home. I… am home… right?_

Helga tried opening her eyes, but it proved to be difficult. Instead, she decided to try to feel around for something that could confirm her whereabouts. When she wriggled her lift hand though, she felt something holding it down.

"What the…?" Helga mumbled tiredly and fluttered her eyes open. Everything was blurry and in a haze, and slowly, but surely, she got them opened completely. In front of her, she saw big tuffs of blonde hair, much like the color of her own, only slightly darker. Very slightly.

Helga forced her head up from her pillow to take a look at the owner of the unruly hair. She saw a very familiar face and smiled automatically. As she looked at him, it didn't seem to make her realize the current situation. A mix of sleepiness and hangover made it impossible for the time being.

Helga lifted her free hand and used it as a pillow for her head. She kept looking at Arnold's head, still smiling. Then, provoked by absolutely _nothing_, her eyes went wide with realization. "Arnold!"

"Wha'?!" Arnold said and lifted his head from the shock. "Ow!" he quickly let his head fall back to the bed again though. He started holding his head as he whimpered at the pain. "Oh, my god… Please… _Please_, don't yell."

Helga couldn't even comprehend Arnold's words. Hung-over or not, she was very much aware now that Arnold was _in her room_. She looked at her window. In the morning, even! Had he been there the whole night? She looked down at her body. _I'm still dressed. Oh, thank goodness._

Arnold now lifted his head to look at Helga, who looked back at him. They stared at each other, Helga just waiting for reality to dawn on him. It did. After about five seconds. "Helga!" he suddenly yelled and jumped back, unconsciously still holding on to her hand though. "What are you doing in my - "

Arnold now finally looked around at the _pink_ and not _blue_ room. "… _your_ room." He corrected. "You're asking me what I'm doing in _my_ room, football head?" Helga asked in incredulity. "Uh, no… I just, uh… I'm trying to remember what… happened last night." He answered and closed his eyes to think.

Helga just stayed in her half laying, half sitting up position with her stomach turned down. She looked to her hand and only just now saw that Arnold was holding it with his own. "Oh!" he said with realization. "You passed out at the party, so I carried you home."

Helga looked back at Arnold, forgetting their hands for the moment. "Huh? Uh, really…? Th-Thank you. Why did I… pass out?" she asked. Arnold narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "That… I can't remember." He answered and opened his eyes again.

"Oh… well, that's reassuring." Helga said with a sigh. "But, uh… and I'm really not trying to sound ungrateful here or anything… Why are you here…? On my floor…? Next to my bed…? H… H-Holding my hand…?"

Arnold frowned in confusion. "Holding your…?" he repeated and looked at his hand. "Oh!" he exclaimed and let go off her hand in embarrassment. "Uh, I, uh… I don't know. I must have… fallen asleep."

"Yeah, but to fall asleep, you'd have to sit down first. Why did you sit down next to my bed… holding my hand?" Helga asked. Usually, she wouldn't question him to this extend, but she wanted to know more than anything. She was hoping so badly right now.

"I… Uh…" Arnold on the other hand was desperately searching for an excuse. He was _not_ in the mood to confess his love right now. Hung-over just like Helga in this odd situation. Heck no. "I was checking if you were breathing properly… a-and then I must have put my hand on yours in my sleep or something."

Helga frowned a little bit, thinking she was not completely buying his explanation. Mostly because she didn't want it to be the truth, but just sighed and nodded. Carefully, mind you. The headache was killing her.

"Well, thank you for taking care of me. I'm sorry you had to do that… and that you fell asleep in such an uncomfortable position. Doesn't your back hurt?" Helga asked while cocking an eyebrow. "Huh?" he mumbled and tried stretching his back a little.

Pain!

"Ow!" Arnold exclaimed and stopped straightening it immediately. He nodded. Helga finally sat up in her bed. "Sorry…" she said and sat down next to him on her knees. "It's not your fault." He said with a smile. "I'm the one who fell asleep like this. I'm sorry for doing something like that by the way."

"Ah, no… don't be sorry about that." Helga said and stood up. She looked down at herself. She noticed her dress was slightly turned to the side, but quickly fixed it. "Uh… c-can I, like, offer you something? Coffee? Breakfast? I wanna thank you for… taking me home last night. That… couldn't have been fun. I ruined the party for you."

"What? No! No, you didn't ruin the party. Not at all. I usually leave a bit earlier than the others do. Ask Gerald and Phoebe, they can confirm that." Arnold answered honestly and tried to stand up. "Ow!"

Helga snickered just a little bit and held out her hand. "Can I at least help you stand up?" she asked with a small smile. Arnold smiled back and nodded while taking her hand. His face cringed at the pain in his spine as he stood up.

"Is there anything I can do to help you with that?" Helga asked worriedly. "My grandma probably knows some amazing trick to heal it, so it's ok. But thanks." Arnold answered and forced his back to straighten out. _Note to self: Never ever, sleep sitting up._

"You sure I can't offer you some breakfast? I'm gonna make something anyway, so…" Helga suggested with a shrug, as if she didn't care about his answer. She did though, boy, did she care. _Arnold and I just woke up together! Oh, dear God, please don't let this morning end too soon!_

Arnold couldn't help but smile at Helga's insistence. "Sure. I'd like that. Thanks, Helga." He answered and started walking towards her door. "Don't mention it." She followed him. "Seriously, don't. Other people might misunderstand." She added with a slight chuckle. He chuckled along with her.

* * *

"Whoa, Helga, this is really good." Arnold said as he took another bite. "It's just an omelet, Arnold, don't got all crazy because of something as simple as that." Helga replied, but honestly felt warmth in her whole body at being praised by him.

"That may be true, but… it's the best omelet I ever had, and my mom makes omelets all the time."

"Oh, really? So you're saying that I can outdo your own mother? That's a bit harsh, isn't it?"

"Well… she _did_ spend a lot of years in San Lorenzo, so I guess her cooking skills might have gone down a lot in that time." Arnold said with a teasing smirk. "Jerk." Helga replied and smacked his shoulder gently.

"What is all that noise…?" a very tired sounding voice said. Helga and Arnold turned to look towards it and saw a blonde shorthaired woman, with a pair of glasses on her head, standing in the doorframe.

Helga frowned. "What are you doing up, Miriam?" she asked in a monotone voice. "Oh, is that you, dear…? I'm just trying to find my glasses." Miriam replied and looked lazily around. Helga gave an impatient sigh. "They're on the top of your head."

"Oh?" Miriam lifted her hand slowly and touched her head. "Oh! There they are." She said as she took them off her head and put them on her nose in front of her eyes. "How weird. Why were they up there?"

"I really couldn't tell you, Miriam, even if I wanted to." Helga replied and felt a wave of anger and embarrassment run through her. _For crying out loud, Arnold's right here. She probably haven't even noticed him!_

"Well, then I'll just make myself a smoothie, dear, and go into the living room, ok?" Miriam said and went towards her beloved blender. "Miriam, it's only 10am, could you at least wait 'till noon?" Helga asked with a slight scowl on her face.

Arnold just kept very quiet as he watched the conversation between Helga and her mother. Miriam turned around to look at her with the same dazed look on her face. "Dear, aren't you dressed a little too nicely for a Sunday morning?"

Helga sighed in exasperation and stood up from her seat. "I didn't put it on this morning. I went to a party last night. I _told you_ already." She said and walked towards her mother. "Oh, really? You sure, you told me that, honey? I don't remember." Miriam asked and plugged the blender in.

"Of course you don't, since you drink all of your memories away." Helga answered and stopped next to Miriam. "Now, don't talk to me that way, Helga, i-it'll hurt my feelings." She answered in the same monotone voice and stumbled a bit towards a cabinet.

"Since when do I have to care about your feelings, when you don't care about mine? Now, _please_, I have a guest right now, so could you go into the living room already?" Helga asked as patiently as she could.

"A guest?" Miriam repeated and spun slowly around and noticed Arnold. "Oh! It's your little friend. Alfred, isn't it? Good morning." She said with a lazy smile. Arnold's eyes went wide. _She only just noticed me now?_ "Uh, g-good morning, Mrs. Pataki. And it's Arnold."

"Now, where did I put it…?" Miriam wondered aloud and tried to reach something in the cabinet. "Miriam, I'll only say this one more time. _Please_, go into the living room." Helga begged yet again. "In a second, dear." She answered and pulled out a bottle from the cabinet. "There we go."

"No, Miriam, not in a second," Helga reached out and took ahold of the bottle. "_now_." She corrected and pulled a bit at it. Despite Miriam's weak arms, she was able to hold onto the bottle. "Helga, let go of the bottle."

"No!" Helga answered and pulled it roughly out of her mother's hands. She put it down on the desk next to her. "Why must you be like this? Why must you do this, even when I have my friends around? You _just_ said hello to him, after noticing him for the first time since getting in! What is the matter with you? A drink _now_? It's not even fucking noon!"

A smack suddenly rang in the room. Arnold jolted back in shock at the sight of Miriam slapping Helga. In a very lazy way though. Helga's eyes were wide as she held her cheek and stared at her mother in disbelief. Miriam, suddenly realizing that she had just slapped her own daughter, looked sadly back at her. "Oh, Helga," she said in an apologetic voice. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to - "

Helga held a hand in front of her, silencing her mother with it. "It's ok." She interrupted with her eyes closed and her lips in two thin lines. "Just… _please_… go into the living room. Make your _smoothie… later._"

"A… All right, dear, I will wait. Are you sure that you're alright?" Miriam asked unsurely and held out her hand to touch Helga's cheek. She stepped back though and gave a tense smile. "It's fine. Go into the living room."

Miriam nodded and went to walk into the living room, with tension in the air as her wake. When the two teens could hear her plump down to the couch and some light snoring, Helga gasped a little in shock and caressed her cheek a bit.

Arnold didn't dare speaking. He didn't know what to say. _Is that… a regular thing? If her mother is like this… Her actually friendly mother… I don't dare imagine what her father is like. He's so brutal with his words. What if this slap really is nothing?_

"Sorry you had to see that." Helga said and turned to look at Arnold. She let her hand fall down to the kitchen desk. He couldn't help but notice the sadness, anger and embarrassment in her facial expression, despite the emptiness in her eyes.

"I'm not lying right now: She's never slapped me before. _Ever._ Big Bob isn't violent either. He's not afraid at telling me how much of a disappointment I am though. That's the honest truth, and if you ever tell anyone, I - "

"I won't." Arnold interrupted with a serious tone in his voice. Helga looked back at him, feeling the tension in the room lift just a tiny bit. She still felt the vulnerability soaring through her though, and that feeling wasn't welcome. "And if you don't know that by now, Helga, then - "

"I know." Helga interrupted with a serious tone in her voice as well. The tension rose a bit again, and so did Arnold. He walked slowly towards her as they kept eye contact with each other. He bit at his lower lip for a second before lifting his hand to touch her cheek gently. "Does it hurt?"

Helga shook her head slowly. "Naw, she's too drunk to use proper strength. It was more like a rough pat than anything else." She answered with empty eyes. "I'm sorry, Helga." Arnold said, starting to feel really sad at seeing her like that.

"Don't." Helga begged gently and stepped back a bit. She shook her head a bit and dared to look into Arnold's eyes again. "I don't want your pity, Arnold. I don't need it. It won't help to know that you've seen me like this."

"I don't pity you, Helga." Arnold said and stepped forward again, forcing Helga against the kitchen desk. Before she could protest, he wrapped his arms gently around her, locking her arms into her sides.

"Let go!" Helga yelped halfheartedly and tried to lift her arms a bit, but to no vain. "No, Helga. I'm not letting go." Arnold answered. _Not ever._ He added in his head and made his grip on her tighter. "It's not as bad as it seems!" she insisted and lifted her arms above his. She tried pushing him off her by thrusting him at his shoulders, but he was stronger than he looked. Alternatively, perhaps she had grown weak in his arms already.

"Please don't push me away, Helga." Arnold begged and pulled away just a little bit to look into her eyes. She stared back at him, her blue eyes big and moist. She was fighting back her tears so badly. "I want to be the one who… you can trust. The one you don't mind seeing you like this. I-I know that may seem cocky or… or that I'm trying to butt into your business, but… it's because I… I worry about you… So please… don't push me away."

That did it. Before Arnold could see the tears fall down her cheeks, Helga pulled him close to her by the neck. She wrapped her arms so tightly around him, that he almost felt like he was being strangled. He just held her more tightly by the waist though, refusing to let anything stop him from trying to comfort her.

"She's never hit me before. I was so shocked." Helga admitted in a dry voice and let her warm tears flow down from her cheeks to Arnold's shoulder and neck. He could feel them trickling down and opened his eyes in surprise. _She's crying! Oh, God, no. Please, Helga, don't cry._

Arnold held Helga more tightly. He wanted to beg her not to cry. He'd never seen her so vulnerable and sad before, and it hurt more than he could have ever imagined. She was scared and felt alone, and he wanted to do everything in his power to make it better. However, he didn't know how else to do that but to just hold her.

To Helga that was more than enough. What she needed, and she didn't even know that a minute ago, was the embrace of the guy she loved. The one guy she's ever loved and ever would love. She started feeling weak and let her knees give in. He followed her down to the floor, both landing gently on their knees.

* * *

After some time, Helga went quiet. Arnold didn't let go of her, but dared to turn his face closer to her cheek. "Are you alright?" he asked. She took a deep breath and nodded. She slowly let go of him and let her hands land on her lap, as she looked down to the ground.

Arnold sat in the same way in front of Helga. He didn't know what to say or if he was supposed to say anything at all, so he just waited for her to say something. Do something. Anything. He saw her lift a hand and wipe some mascara from the night before away from her cheek.

"I should take this makeup off… I must look like a train wreck or something." Helga suggested to herself with a weak smile. Arnold smiled a bit and shook his head. "You don't look like a train wreck."

"Thanks, but I should take it off anyway." Helga said and stood up. She walked slowly towards the hallway and then stopped. Without really look at him, but just having her head half turned at him, she spoke. "If you want to leave, that's ok… If you want to stay, that's ok too…"

Arnold had no doubt in his mind what he wanted to do. Though he wasn't sure what he _should_ do, he decided to go with his gut. "Then I'd like to stay." He answered. He observed Helga for a reaction. She gave a very small smile and lifted her head to look at him completely. "Then please stay."

Arnold gave a big smile and nodded slowly. "I'll wait down here." He announced and sat back down in front of his plate. "Where else would you go, if you want to stay? Doi." Helga muttered playfully and went out of the room.

* * *

10 to 15 minutes later, Helga came back down. Not only with her makeup off, but also dressed in a pair of gray sweatpants and a pink top. It was typical home-sweet-home clothes, but on Helga, it actually looked sexy.

_Damn it. Beautiful dress or not, is there anything that looks bad on her?_ Arnold thought to himself and sighed a little bit. "Hi." He said carefully. Helga gave him an earnest smile and sat next to him. "Hi yourself."

"So… what's on the agenda today?" Arnold asked with a crooked smile. Helga smiled back and gave a thoughtful look. "Well, I did plan this day ahead a little, since I was going to a party the night before." She answered.

"And what did you plan?"

"Hangover day."

Arnold laughed at that. Sure, they were both hung-over, but not a lot. It was more like a headache, but it wasn't excruciating or anything. "And what does that mean in the Helga Pataki world?" he asked. "Hmm…" she mumbled and laid her chin in her hand. "It means being lazy… staying in my room… and maybe watch some movies or something."

"That all sounds good."

"You, uh… wanna join me?" Helga dared to ask. Arnold blinked a couple of times, before deciding to try and stop that very big smile that was threatening to appear on his face. "I'd really like that… since we're both hung-over and everything." He answered.

Helga giggled a little and stood up. "Great! But, uh, you should probably call your parents first. They're most likely worried sick." She suggested. Arnold's eyes went big. "Oh, crap!" he exclaimed and pulled out his phone from his pants.

"Don't tell me you forgot about them?"

"I did! I completely did! Oh, man, and not even Aaron knows where I went. I just left him like that. My parents are gonna kill me."

"Ha! You left your cousin behind without a word? Why, Arnold, I think I'm starting to have a bad influence on you." Helga observed and grabbed their plates. Arnold snickered and pulled the phone close to his ear. "Then you gotta make it up to me today."

"Oh, do I now? And how do I do that?" Helga asked as she opened the dishwasher. "By spending this hangover day with me." Arnold answered as he waited for an answer on the other side of the phone.

"Oh, brother, I have to spend all day with you?" Helga asked playfully and put the plates into the dishwasher. "That's the prize. Take it or leave it." Arnold answered with a teasing smirk, as she closed the dishwasher. "Sold." She answered and hopped onto the kitchen desk.

"Arnold!" the phone suddenly screamed so loudly into Arnold's ear that even Helga heard it. "Ow!" he exclaimed and pulled the phone away for a bit. "Mom, please don't scream like that. I have a hangover."

"I will scream however I please, young man! Where are you? We've been so worried about you! Aaron didn't even know where you went! What did you do last night?" Stella asked with slight panic in her voice.

Arnold kept the phone away from his ear and turned to look at Helga, who had a hard time not laughing. In a way, she was also envious. No way would her own parents worry that much about her, if she suddenly disappeared. Hell, they probably wouldn't even notice.

"Mom, don't worry. I just took Helga home last night." Arnold answered into the phone, making sure to keep his ear away from it. He was met with silence on the other side. "Uh… mom, you still there?"

"… Hold on." Stella answered and the sound of footsteps could be heard. Arnold frowned and looked at Helga. She shrugged. "How am I supposed to know?" she gave as a reply to his unsaid question.

"Arnold?" a male voice asked on the other end. "Oh, good morning, dad. What happened to mom?" Arnold asked. "She told me: 'Go ask your son what he did last night'… So, what did you do last night?" Miles asked.

"Uh…" Arnold looked at Helga unsurely. _What's with the big fuss?_ He wondered. "I took Helga home last night after the party." He answered. Helga was also frowning a bit. _What the heck is his parents thinking?_

"… You took Helga home? After a party? And you… stayed over?" Miles asked very slowly. "Yeah… I did." Arnold answered, also very slowly. He kept looking at Helga, who was just as much in the dark as him.

"Well!" Miles finally announced on the phone with a big happy voice. Arnold looked at his phone in confusion. "Well what?" he asked. "Congratulations, my boy! You finally became a man last night. Kudos!" Miles answered.

"Huh?" Arnold muttered, trying to figure out what his father was talking about. It wasn't until he noticed that Helga was now holding her mouth with both her hands, trying very hard not to laugh too loudly, that it dawned on him.

The darkest blush imaginable appeared on Arnold's face and he practically stuttered into the phone. "D-Dad! No! Th-That's not what… That's not what ha-happened!" he exclaimed in a wave of panic. "Yeah, right! Don't try to lie to your old man, Arnold, I was 16 years old once too, you know!" Miles answered, followed by a laugh.

"Oh, my God!" Helga shrieked and finally had to laugh. She was laughing in amusement and embarrassment, all at the same time. She didn't feel bad for Arnold, not the slightest. She couldn't muster pity at this point. It was too hilarious.

"Oh, Helga's right next to you? I'm sorry. I didn't realize! No wonder you tried to cover it up." Miles said on the other end of the phone, which just made Helga laugh even louder. Arnold could have sworn he could also hear his own mother laugh at the other end.

"No, dad, I swear, nothing happened! A-Ask Helga! We didn't do anything! I just fell asleep by accident. H-Helga, tell him, please!" Arnold begged and held out his phone to Helga. Laughing just a little bit more, she took the phone up to her ear. "Good morning, Miles."

"Good morning, Helga! So, how are you on this fine morning?"

"Oh, I'm just fine. Your conversation with your son gave me the biggest laugh ever. Thank you for that."

"Helga!" Arnold interrupted. "Please!" he begged. "Oh, fine." Helga said and straightened her back a little. "Well, Miles, as amusing your assumption was, I have to inform you that it's false. Nothing happened between Arnold and me last night."

"Oh, really?" Miles asked in a slightly disappointed voice. "Well… if anything _did_ happen… then I'm sorry to tell you that your son is a necrophiliac, since I was passed out through the whole thing."

"Helga!" Arnold exclaimed in a serious panic. He tried to take the phone away from Helga, but she held him back by her free hand. "I'm kidding! I'm kidding! Your son is far too much of a gentleman to do that. I'm sorry. That was a mean joke." She explained.

When Arnold seemed to calm down, Helga let go of his chest. "Why, thank you, Helga dear." Stella said on the phone. Helga could imagine that Arnold's parents were now sharing the phone. "Of course we knew it was a joke though. Arnold cares too much about you to do such a thing."

Helga felt heat rise to her cheeks and around her heart at that comment. "Uh, th-thanks. I… know." She answered and glanced at Arnold, who looked like he could die from embarrassment, but still had a small smile on his lips. _So she does know that I care. That's good._

"So, Helga. Is Arnold going to be home soon or will we even be seeing him today?" Miles asked teasingly. Arnold rolled his eyes heavily and pulled his hand through his hair. "I don't know when he'll be home. We just made plans about having a hung-over day together." Helga answered honestly, truly hoping for another embarrassing episode for Arnold.

She got it. "Oh!" both parents exclaimed together and started laughing. Arnold held his hand out to Helga, asking for his phone. His parents started talking while she gave it to him. "Well, looks like I can save my congratulations for later, Arnold!" Miles said.

Arnold and Helga stared at each other in huge embarrassment. _Crap! That was bad for me too!_ Helga thought to herself, but couldn't help laughing. Arnold on the other hand, was now growling at the very back of his throat, as he lifted the phone to his mouth. "I wish I didn't find you guys in San Lorenzo!" he yelled in embarrassment and hung up.

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: First of all: Of course Arnold didn't mean that last comment, his parents knows that too. He was just embarrassed to his very core, and can you blame him? :P If you want to imagine how he said that last line, then search hey Arnold lockjaw on YouTube. When Arnold exclaims: "Grandma!" Yeah, that's the voice he used here XD**

**Secondly: As I said in the beginning of this chapter, I didn't plan any of this xD When I started writing, I didn't see this ending coming! So, Arnold's gonna spend the day with Helga? Who knows what will happen? I don't even know! xD**

**Oh, and a small personal thing: Congratulate me! I passed my… uh… what would such a thing be called in English? My written driving test? I passed it just today! :D Do you guys even have such a thing? O.o I truly don't know! Tell me! I don't know how driving lessons work anywhere else but in Denmark! XD**


	17. No matter what I say, it'll sound bad

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**What Arnold hadn't expected to happen, when he brought Helga home, was that he would fall asleep not only next to her, but while holding her hand. She woke up to the biggest – and possibly happiest – surprise of her life, though the surprise was too grand for her to comprehend it at first.**_

_**The morning was met with a rather nasty surprise for Arnold though, when he realized exactly how drunken Helga's mother truly was. After a slap out of almost nowhere, Miriam finally let Helga and Arnold alone and walked out of the kitchen in shame.**_

_**Not to Helga's surprise, but still immense happiness, Arnold told her he would keep her family life a secret, and he comforted her. It was the first time he saw her cry and he made a silent prayer that he would never see her so miserable again.**_

_**After a very embarrassing misunderstanding from his parents, Arnold finally hung up on them to only be met with more of Helga's laughter. But now at least their hung-over day together could begin.**_

**Author's 1st note: Yet again: I have NO clue how this will turn out. I never planned a Sunday, I only have plans for next week of this story! xD Man, I have kinda dug my own grave with this chapter… Oh, well, here goes! :P**

* * *

Chapter 17: "No matter what I say, it'll sound bad"

"… If it helps, then I am in a way better mood now." Helga said and tried to hold back a snicker behind her hand. Arnold's cheeks were still flushed from the former embarrassment, which had happened ten minutes ago. The two blondes had found it quite necessary to be quiet for the time being, both trying to slow their beating hearts.

Arnold sighed and smiled a bit, as he scratched the back of his head. "Well, that's good… but seriously, I could kill my parents right now." He answered and sighed again, this time in more despair than in amusement.

"Naw, you don't mean that. You love them anyway, even if they do embarrass you. You should get used to it already. That's what parents do!" Helga replied and jumped down from the kitchen desk. "But if it'll make you more comfortable, we'll never mention it again."

"Yes, please." Arnold replied and followed her out of the kitchen. "Sounds good to me, Arnoldo. So, want to go upstairs and watch a movie or something?" Helga asked and went towards the staircase. "Sure." He answered with a smile.

As they went up a couple of steps, they could hear some rummaging in the kitchen. They both stopped and looked towards the room, despite the fact they couldn't exactly see through the wall. "Typical," Helga sneered. "Miriam just waited for us to leave, before grabbing the bottle again."

Arnold was about to ask if Helga was still all right, when she just continued her way up the stairs. "Come on, Arnoldo! I ain't got all day! Well, no, that's not really true… but still. Hurry up!" she called and went into her room. He smiled and followed her gladly. _Yeah, she's fine._

"Any movie genre you'd prefer, paste for brains?" Helga asked and jumped onto her bed. Arnold watched her for a second, before answering. She seemed in a perfectly fine mood, so why did he still worry so much about her parents? It wasn't like he could do much at the moment anyway. He decided to let it go for now. He knew her: She would come to him, when she was ready to talk.

"I'm not sure. What have you got?" Arnold asked and walked closer. "Check for yourself, head boy. See if there's anything you like." Helga answered and gestured behind him. He turned around to see a big cabinet. He walked towards it and opened it. "Whoa! How many movies have you got?"

"You think I've been counting them all? Knock yourself out." Helga answered and shifted on her bed. Arnold did as told and started reading the titles of the movies. There was a few he recognized, but most of them seemed to be older movies. There was a wide range of genres. Romance and action seemed to be her favorites.

Arnold had to cock an eyebrow though, when he noticed something odd. It seemed like many of the covers were hiding other covers behind them. He glanced at Helga, who was busy trying to find the remote control for her television.

_I shouldn't do this. She's obviously trying to hide these particular movies…_ Despite reprimanding himself, Arnold caught himself taking out some of the covers to read the titles behind them. His eyes popped out.

"Found something, football head?" Helga asked, not looking at him. "Oh, I found something alright." Arnold answered, trying his best not to snicker. That bit of snicker that _did_ get out of his mouth, made her look at him though. "Whoa! How many movies do you wanna see?" she asked, when she noticed the pile of movies in his arms.

"Oh, no, Helga. I definitely don't want to watch _these_." Arnold answered and put them down on top of the cabinet. "Huh? Then what do you want to…" Helga had been about to ask, what he did want to see then, but then he stepped aside and she realized why he was smiling so broadly.

"Really, Helga? The badass tomboyish bully likes Disney movies?" Arnold asked and started biting at his lower lip to try and not laugh. Helga was mortified. If there was one thing she didn't want anyone to see in her room at her age, it was those bloody Disney movies!

"Why, you little…! Why do you think I hid those?!" Helga asked in a mix of anger and embarrassment. "Well, sorry, Helga, but it's not like they were very well hidden or anything." Arnold answered.

"Doesn't matter! They were obviously hidden! So much for being a goody-two-shoes! Where's your morality now?!"

"You said it yourself, Helga: You have a bad influence on me. But if it makes you feel less embarrassed, I'm pretty sure I also have a huge stack of Disney movies in my room."

"Well, that's no surprise!"

"Why not?"

"Because you're Arnold, that's why!"

"What does me being me have to do with - "

"You're such a child in so many other way! It's not a surprise you have children's movies in your room. It'd surprise me, if you also didn't have Pingu or something on DVD!" Helga shouted in a frenzy.

Arnold cocked his eyebrow and went to take one of the Disney movies out of the cabinet. "Everything you're saying is something I can say right back at you." He pointed out as he waved the movie in his hand.

Helga felt heat rise all around her face and she just decided to look away with a scowl. "If you tell anyone, I'll make you not be able to walk for a week." She said in a more childish rather than threatening tone of voice. "I won't tell. No one would believe me anyway." Arnold answered and turned around to face the cabinet again.

Helga sighed deeply. "Found a movie you wanna watch…?" she asked in an attempt at getting out of the awkward topic. "In fact I have!" Arnold pulled out a cover. "Catch!" he said cheerfully and threw the cover at her.

Helga caught it without any trouble and stood up from the bed. "What did you…" she had been about to ask what Arnold had chosen, when she noticed the title. She glanced at him in disbelief, as he sat down on her bed. "Football head… 'The Beauty And The Beast'… Really?"

Arnold shrugged. "It's my favorite." He answered honestly. Helga turned around and waved the movie in her hand. "Are you mocking me?" she asked angrily. "What? No!" he answered with a deep frown.

"… Seriously?"

"I swear! Come on, Helga, put the movie on. I haven't seen it in forever. It's not like you and I can watch these movies with anyone else." Arnold answered with a bit of a sullen look on his face. Helga's heart skipped a beat. "You and… Uh, what do you mean?"

"What I mean is that… Well… most people would say we're too old for these movies, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"But we both like them, so… we can watch them together. There's no reason to hide it, since we both like them. That's what I meant." Arnold explained. Helga could feel her heart skip a beat again. "Well, that's true… I can imagine that Gerald would rather have a root canal than watch a cheesy children's movie."

"You got that right. When he saw the ones, I have at home. I swear, he mocked me for a month." Arnold answered with a small sigh. Helga laughed loudly as she put the disk into the DVD player. "I can easily see that happening."

Helga strolled back to the bed, sat down next to Arnold and pushed the play button on the remote controller. The familiar theme melody of Disney could be heard in the room and both blondes got a big smile on their lips.

* * *

"What's your favorite Disney movie?" Arnold asked after a few hours. They had just put another Disney movie on, this time choosing 'Tarzan'. Helga gave a thoughtful sigh. "I… honestly can't say. I like most of them for different reasons. You?"

"Same here. There's no way I could choose. Anyone you really dislike?"

"Oh, that's easy. 'Sleeping Beauty'. Without a doubt."

"Really? Care to explain why?"

"Sure. First of all, the heroine: Aurora. She's boring as fuck, she's got no personality whatsoever, she's supposed to be 16 years old, yet she sounds like she's in her thirties since her voice actress actually was just about to hit thirty, and she falls in love with the first male man she sees, claiming she's seen him in her dreams. The hero: Prince Phillip, same reasons as Aurora."

Arnold just kept staring at Helga as she continued listing off the reasons for her hatred of the movie. _I knew Helga was insightful… but she's got some really nice points. I'm starting to question whether I like the movie or not now. She should be a politician or something._

"And finally, the one thing I do want to give the movie credit for was that it had the original music made by Tchaikovsky from the original ballet. But that's about it." Helga finished. She continued to look at the screen for a second, before she noticed that Arnold was staring at her. She glanced at him. "What?"

"It's just…" Arnold snickered a bit, but forced himself to hold it in. "You're quite passionate." He observed with an earnest smile. Helga felt her heart leap at his words. "P-Passion… Uh, what do you mean, hair boy?"

"You take it so seriously."

"So, what's it to ya'?"

"It's meant as a compliment."

"How so?"

"You don't just sit down, watch a movie and accept it for what it is. You analyze it, find the mistakes and create your opinion based on that. I like that you don't just follow the mob. Most people adore this movie."

"Well… I'm not like most people, football head." Helga answered and crossed her arms beneath her chest. Arnold put his elbow on his thigh and rested his chin in his palm. "I know." He answered with a dreamy smile.

Helga dared to glance at him at the corner of her eye. Her heart was threating to jump out of her ribcage from the way he was looking at her. Going back to her defense mechanism, she grabbed her pillow beside her and threw it at him.

_Sh-Sheesh! Way to go, Arnold, now I can't calm down! Idiot! Moron! Yutz! Fool! Sweet… Sweet fool. This is dangerous. So very, very dangerous… We're alone in my room, on a Sunday afternoon, and we… oh, my god, why are we sitting on my bed anyway?! Do I want to have a stroke?!_

Helga's mind was in a complete panic, when something hit her. Literally. "Ow!" she exclaimed and looked at Arnold in disbelief. He was smirking at her, as he kept holding on to the pillow in his hand. "Did you just…" she started, but then smirked proudly. "Oh, no. You are _not_ challenging me to a pillow fight. No way."

"Are you scared of losing, Helga?" Arnold asked, while waving the pillow in his hand in a cocky way. "Oh, it's on!" Helga answered and grabbed another pillow. "You're so going down! Your wide head is a way too easy target!"

With those words, the pillow fight began. Laughter erupted into the room as the two love-struck teenagers punched their pillows at each other. Helga quickly regretted the fact that she had actual feathers in her pillows, because now it almost seemed as if it had snowed inside her room.

Helga shoved her pillow into Arnold's face, and while he was preoccupied with trying to get it off, she grabbed his pillow. She laughed maliciously as she pulled both pillows away from him and smiled in triumph. "You giving up, football head?!"

"Heck no!" Arnold answered and lunged for Helga. She shrieked loudly, when he grabbed her sides and started tickling her. "Not fair! Not fair, not fair, not fair! Arnold, that is _so_ not in character!" she declared and fell backwards onto the bed, letting completely go off the pillows.

Arnold just kept tickling her though. He was enjoying it far too much to stop. Honestly, even if he did enjoy the feel of her hands on him, he felt slightly disappointed when she grabbed his wrists to stop him. She overpowered him and managed to roll them both around, so that she was now holding his wrists down to the bed. When he tried to move, she swung a leg over his hips and straddled him.

"I win!" Helga announced proudly with her voice panting. "You always have…" Arnold answered, while gasping just as much. "It's because I'm just that good." She answered with a proud smile. "Naw, it's because you use dirty tricks." He answered with a playful smirk.

"Oh? And tickling in the middle of a pillow fight is _not_ a dirty trick?" Helga asked incredulous. Arnold shrugged. "I said I wasn't scared of using dirty tricks." He answered. She cocked an eyebrow. "When did you say that?" she asked.

Arnold, realizing his mistake, just snickered. "A while ago… in my head." He answered, trying to joke his way out of it. Helga snorted, so apparently it had worked. "You're a basket case, you know that?"

"It takes one to know one, Helga!" Arnold answered and started thrusting with his hips to make Helga fall off. She shrieked loudly and started laughing, while she struggled to stay on him. She kept laughing until she had to wince at something odd. "Arnold, stop! Your cellphone is hurting me!" she said, while still laughing.

"Huh? My cellphone? It's on the desk." Arnold answered and stopped moving. Helga cocked an eyebrow. "What? Then what is that hard thing that's poking…" and then she stopped talking. Her eyes went wide as a very inappropriate option crossed her mind.

Arnold was still confused at first. _Hard thing that's poking her?_ He repeated in his head and looked towards her thighs as if he could see an answer. Then, when she shifted just slightly, as if she was trying to get a better feel, he gasped.

Both Helga and Arnold's eyes went wide, when the reality truly dawned on both of them. _Oh, God, no! Not now!_ Arnold begged in his mind, when he could feel her pressed up against him. It had never been his intention. Not whatsoever. _I'm innocent! She's the one who's sitting on top of me! I-I was only moving around like to get her off. It was part of the game! What am I supposed to say to her?! I… I… It doesn't matter what I say, does it? I'm screwed!_

Helga gulped very loudly. For one reason or another, her ears chose to listen to the audio of the movie currently running on her TV. She could hear Jane's voice with the rain in the background. "_Oh, dear… Oh, dear. Oh, dear. Oh, dear!_"

_My thoughts exactly, sister…_ Helga thought at the corner of her mind, because most of it was clouded with very, _very_ dirty thoughts. _How… How am I supposed to react? Should I joke myself out of it? Pretend I don't realize? No, none of those are options. If I joke about it, that'd just make him more uncomfortable. He must already be shaken to his core with fear. And I already made it quite clear that I've noticed his… hard-on. Besides… no way in Hell I couldn't notice that!_

Then another thought occurred to Helga. _I could also… use this to my advantage… I mean, in a way, he's already taken the first step. I could try and kiss him and then… maybe instincts would just take over? He's already turned on! It should be easy! First step's already been taken…_

_This is without a doubt the most horrifying embarrassingly thing, I have ever experienced. When she sat on my lap, she was at least gone before she could notice. This… There's no way to get out of this. Should I apologize? Should I even speak? But if I don't speak, then what else is there to…_

That was when Arnold noticed the odd look in Helga's eyes. They were half-lidded and almost looked… sultry? _Wait…_ He thought and gulped slightly. _She don't exactly seem mad… She hasn't yelled at me yet, and she hasn't moved either. She couldn't possibly…_

Before Arnold could finish his thought, Helga's eyes came closer to his own. His own eyes, which had been dilated greatly for the last minute, now closed shut in slight fear. He didn't know what to expect from her, only what to hope.

_Arnold closed his eyes…_ Helga thought and licked her lips. _Is that like… giving me an ok? Green lighting my unsaid question? Only… O-Only one way to find out._ With determination as her motivation, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath and dove forward.

A loud smack echoed through the house. Helga stopped for a second, noticing the sound. _The front door…? Couldn't have been Miriam, she's probably already half-asleep. Besides, that was a really loud sound… It could only be…_ She opened her eyes in a panic. _Oh, fuck!_

"Arnold." Helga said loudly, concealing her panic the best she could. Arnold opened his eyes slowly, blinking a couple of times. "Uh… Uh-huh?" he said in a bit of a daze. He hadn't heard the bang of the door. His own lustful thoughts had clouded his hearing too much.

"Olga!"

"Run." Helga said in a panic and jumped right off Arnold. "Excuse me?" he answered and sat up. "What? Are you deaf? Run, you stupid boy! Big Bob's home!" she answered and grabbed his phone. She threw it at him without warning, but luckily, he caught it.

"Olga, where are you?!" Big Bob's angry voice could be heard through the hallways. Helga rolled her eyes. "It's _Helga_." She corrected in a whispering voice, knowing very well he couldn't hear her anyway.

"Why are you panicking, Helga?" Arnold asked and stood up from the bed. "Hello! It's _Big Bob Pataki_! Do you want to know what he did, the first time he saw a boy in Olga's room?!" Helga asked. He blinked a couple of times, while imaging some very horrid things. He shook his head violently. "Your answer will hunt me, I can imagine. But what do we do?"

"Uh…" Helga looked around. _There must be an escape for him somewhere! Oh, please, let Big Bob be slow at walking up the stairs. I don't wish to see my dad try to hurt my beloved, because then my beloved will have to see me beat my dad into a pulp!_

Then Helga's eyes fell to her window. "Out the window!" She answered and ran to it. "What?!" Arnold followed her a couple of steps. "I'm not going out the window!" he answered in incredulity. When the window was open, she turned around to face him. "It's either that or be meet with a man, who could put The hulk to shame!"

"I'm going out the window." Arnold decided without missing a beat. "Good choice, football head." Helga said and stepped aside. He let his head out of the window to look down. "I can't jump from here! I'll die!" he said with fear in his voice and pulled his head inside again.

"Then hang onto the windowpane or something!" Helga suggested and looked to her window. "What?!" Arnold shrieked and looked outside again. "Got any better ideas, paste for brains?" she asked. He gulped. "Well… No, but - "

"Olga! I am talking to you!" Big Bob yelled. His voice was obviously dangerously close. Helga turned to scowl at Arnold. "Do it!" she whispered and pushed at him a little. He sighed and laid his legs against the windowpane. He turned around and let himself fall down, so he could grab it with his hands.

Helga leaned out to look at Arnold. "I can still see your hands!" she pointed out in a low voice. "What do you want me to do? Paint them brown so they match the pane?" he asked with a scowl. She rolled her eyes and tried to think of a solution.

Unfortunately, Helga only got two seconds to think, before she heard her door open behind her. She turned around and laid her hands deliberately on top of Arnold's to hide them. Despite the fact that his heart was already beating from the fear, he was pretty sure that the next couple of beats came from a different source.

"I've been calling you forever, girl. What are you doing up here?" Big Bob asked as he walked into the room. Helga rolled her eyes. "You're asking me what I'm doing up in my own room on a Sunday?" she asked.

"Hey! Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! Don't take that tone of voice with me, young lady. I want to know where you went last night."

"… You're kidding! I _told_ you. I went to a party with some of my friends!"

"I don't remember you telling me anything like that!"

"Well, I _did_. It's not my fault you never listen to what I'm saying."

"Not true! I do listen. I got you tickets to that play named 'Rats', didn't I? And you didn't even have to tell me. I figured it out myself."

"Big whoop! I was nine years old at the time! And I wanted to go to see Slam Jam. If you actually _did_ listen, then you would have known that I'm a wrestling fan, and figured that out by yourself!"

"You like wrestling? Since when?" Bob asked with a cocked eyebrow. Helga's mouth got big and round, and she was about to start yelling at him, when she could feel Arnold's hands wriggle under her own. After being reminded of her current situation, she coughed a little to regain her composure. "Never mind. Listen, Bob, as I said, then I went to a party last night, so I'm not exactly feeling very good right now. That's why I'm up here, and I'll be up here all day. Ok?"

Bob looked at Helga, as if he wanted to continue his interrogation. At least until he looked around inside the room, and noticed the very feathery bed. He cocked an eyebrow. "What the hell happened?" he asked.

Helga looked in the same direction, and managed to curse inside her head for a few seconds, while she was cooking up an excuse. "I told you, I don't feel good. I'm hung-over, so I… took it out on the pillows." She answered with a shrug.

_Good one…_ Arnold complimented in his head. Bob narrowed his eyes and eyed Helga for a bit, but then just rolled his eyes. "Teenagers." He muttered under his breath and went out the door. After a few seconds, she turned around and grabbed Arnold's arms. "You hanging in there?"

"All I can do is hanging! Get me up, please!" Arnold begged and started pulling himself up. "Oh, one more thing." Bob said as he walked back into Helga's room. She didn't have time to pull herself up, so she was still hanging with half her torso out of the window, when he got in. "What the heck are you doing, girl?"

"Uh…" Helga mumbled. Arnold could see the wheels in her heart turning, and then she finally rolled her eyes as she rolled her head dramatically. "What does it _look_ like I'm doing? I'm getting some fresh air!"

For one reason or another, Arnold had to bite at his lower lip to keep himself for laughing. It had looked so funny, when Helga said those words, and the words themselves. _What the heck!_ "Shut up!" Helga whispered in annoyance, but mostly because she had a hard time not trying to laugh herself.

"If you just want some fresh air, then why are you hanging outside the window like that?" Bob asked curiously, but his tone of voice indicated that he was thinking Helga was insane. "Because I got more air like that. Besides… this will count as my walk outside today, so I can stay inside." She answered.

"… Yeah. Whatever. I just wanted to say that I'm gonna be away on business next week, so you and Miriam are gonna be on your own." Bob said, obviously just wanting to leave Helga alone by now. "Sure. That's fine. Have a nice trip. Bye-bye." She answered and waved lazily with her head.

"Criminy. I'm surrounded…" Bob muttered as he walked out. "Hey!" Helga turned around to look at the closed door. "That's _my_ line!" she yelled at him and turned around to pull Arnold inside again. When he landed on the floor, he was holding his stomach while laughing. "What's so funny, yutz?"

Arnold sat up while he still held his stomach. "It's just… you and your dad… you should be a comedy duo or something." He answered and then held his mouth to conceal the laughter. "Excuse me, Arnoldo?" Helga said and crossed her arms. "Care to explain that statement?"

"You and Big Bob… You're so different, and yet so alike. It's just hilarious listening to."

"… A comedy duo, eh? Well, he probably wouldn't mind, since it'd bring more money."

"And it could give him quality time with his daughter." Arnold pointed out with a small frown. Helga snorted. "Whenever he spends _quality time_ with me, is when he can earn something from doing it."

"Helga, that couldn't possibly - "

"He attended parents' day, just so he could win the trophy. He forced me to study all night, when I had a chance to win a spelling bee. He loved watching all those interviews with me, back when I was the IT girl. He only cared about our float back in fourth grade, because I promised him we would advertise Big Bob's Beepers. He - "

"I get it already!" Arnold finally interrupted, when he couldn't take anymore. Helga scowled at him, now obviously angry at remembering all those things at the same time. "I'm sorry." He muttered honestly. He felt bad. It wasn't his intention to make her list off all the reasons why Big Bob was a deadbeat dad. It wasn't like Arnold didn't know to begin with anyway, it was just in his nature to try and help. However, sometimes it backfired.

"It's alright. You're just trying to help. I know that… If it makes you feel better, I've had good moments with my parents too, even if they were very short-lived." Helga answered after sighing a bit. Then she frowned thoughtfully. "We should get you the heck out of here, before my dad notices though."

"Oh, right." Arnold answered and stood up. Helga did the same thing and walked to her door. She opened it slowly and peeked out. She could hear the sound of 'Wheel of fortune'. "Great. He's watching TV. That means we'll be able to sneak out easily."

"So… what? We just… walk right past him?" Arnold asked. "Pretty much. Wait for a second, while I walk downstairs and make sure he's distracted." Helga answered and walked outside. He did as told and waited a bit, before following her.

Helga walked slowly through the hallway and sneaked a peak into the living room. She turned around with a smile and waved at Arnold. He walked right behind her and took a short look too. Big Bob was sitting in his chair, watching 'Wheel of fortune'. He noticed nothing.

"You sure we won't get busted?" Arnold asked in a whisper. "Hell no. The house could be on fire, and he wouldn't notice." Helga answered and went to the front door. The two blondes put on their shoes and jackets, before she opened the door and they went outside.

Arnold sighed in relief, when they were safe and sound outside. "Whoa, for a guy who's been in countless dangerous situations then you didn't handle this very well." Helga observed with a snicker. He chuckled a bit and then just plain smiled. "I'd rather face every single cheetah, tiger, lion, leopard, puma and occasional monkey you and I met in San Lorenzo again, than making the father of the girl with the iron fists mad."

"I'm not sure all of the animals on your list lives in San Lorenzo, but still a good call." Helga answered and started walking. Arnold followed her, still chuckling a bit because of the fear and the adrenaline.

"So much for the hung-over day together, huh?" Helga mumbled in disappointment, though she tried to hide it. A bit. Not as much as she usually would have. Arnold smirked. "Seem like we'll have to take a rain check."

"A rain check? You mean you wanna try again some other time?" Helga asked with raised eyebrows and hope. Arnold's smirk disappeared and he gulped a bit. _This is pretty innocent. I can say yes to that_. "Sure." He answered, trying to be subtle.

Helga glanced forward with a small smile. "So, you're planning on getting me drunk, taking me home and sleep in my room again?" she asked, trying make her heartbeat slow down. Arnold felt his heart leap in his ribcage and he just chuckled in embarrassment. "Uh… n-no matter what I say right now, it'll make me look bad, so I'll just shut up."

"Relax, Arnoldo, I'm just screwing with ya'." Helga said with a smile, happy that her comment had gotten the wanted response. _Yeah, I wish you were._ Arnold thought. As soon as the words crossed his mind, he shook his head as if to try to throw them away again. _What's the matter with me?!_

"It's probably a bad idea though…" Helga mumbled sadly. Arnold turned to look at her in disappointment. "Uh… how come?" he asked. She glanced at him in disbelief. "Hello! Did you just miss the last ten minutes, football head? If you come to my house like that again and Big Bob finds you, then you're not coming back, and not just because he won't let you, but because your legs won't work!"

Arnold gulped loudly and tried to shake the images out of his head. "Alright, fine… how about going to the boarding house today instead?" he suggested. Helga stopped in the middle of the street, as she felt her heart pound at the sheer idea of her and Arnold in his room… together… with his knowledge that is, but then an annoying face appeared in her brain. "Is… Aaron gonna be there?"

Arnold frowned at Helga's question. "Uh, I'm not sure. I think he will be. He hasn't told me about any plans at least." He answered honestly, hoping for a bad reaction from Helga. He got it. "No thanks." She answered with a scowl.

"… You really hate him, don't you?" Arnold asked with a slight smirk. Helga sighed and nodded a bit while shrugging. "I try not to. Really. He's just… ugh." She gave up explaining, since it would mean she would go into a rant about why she hated Aaron, and the reason for that would be bad for her, if Arnold found out.

"But we'll still do that hung-over day at some point, right?" Arnold asked with a smile. Helga snickered. "I'm starting to think you just wanna get me drunk, Arnoldo." She answered with a smirk. He smirked back. "Again: No matter what I say, it'll sound bad." He answered which caused both of them to laugh.

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: Sorry, it took so long! :P First of all: I don't actually dislike Sleeping Beauty… xD It's not exactly my favorite, and I don't really know A LOT about it, but enough to know that it's not a Disney movie I'm too fond of xD**


	18. You were in good hands

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**After discovering that Helga shares his love for Disney movies, Arnold was more than ready to begin his hung-over day filled with Disney movies together with her.**_

_**To hide her embarrassment at a compliment from Arnold, Helga subconsciously started a pillow fight, which ended up in her straddling him and feeling him at a whole different level. As she finally pulled herself together, her father managed to interrupt them.**_

_**After getting rid of Big Bob, Helga snuck outside with Arnold to walk him home. On the way it was safe to say, that they both know had confirmed that spending time alone together was definitely gonna be on the agenda.**_

**Author's 1st note: I know how this chapter is gonna go! Despite not planning this Sunday ahead, then I already know how this one will end up! Yay me xD**

* * *

Chapter 18: "You were in good hands"

"You sure you don't want to come inside?" Arnold asked, seriously hoping for a yes this time around. Aaron or not, he didn't want to let go of Helga just yet. It was a rare opportunity, and even if they had made semi plans just now, then that would be in the future. He wanted to be with her _now_.

Just like Arnold, Helga didn't want to leave herself. She looked longingly at his door and wondered, if it really would be all that bad if Aaron was there? Arnold would be the perfect buffer. He already knew she didn't like his cousin, so what was the big problem?

"Well… I should at least say hello to your parents. I should reconfirm that their son is still a virgin, so they won't give you a hard time." Helga answered and went up to the front door. "Helga!" Arnold exclaimed in slight panic, but mostly happiness since she had finally agreed.

"I'm here to keep you on your toes, head boy." Helga said and opened the front door. "Wait, watch out!" Arnold called and grabbed her by the waist. "Whoa!" she shrieked, as he pulled her back, so she was facing him and her back was up against the wall. "What's the big - "

Helga watched with big eyes as a horde of animals ran out the door. Including that pig Abner, who Helga wasn't very fond of for obvious reasons in the past. She panted a little, while she realized that she would have been pulled with the animal horde, if Arnold hadn't been quick to save her. "Thanks…" she muttered under her breath.

"No problem, but from now on, let me handle the door, ok?" Arnold suggested with a smile. Helga snorted and looked him in the eyes. Which were very close, she suddenly noticed. He _was_ holding her up against the wall after all. _This resembles last night an awful lot…_ she thought as she gulped.

"Who's out there? We don't want to buy anything!" the voice of Phil rang, before he stepped outside. Arnold practically jumped away from Helga, and almost stumbled down all the steps of the stairs in his panic. "G-Good morning, grandpa. I-I brought Helga over."

"Oh, it's you, short man? What are you doing here? Weren't you at the girl with the blonde hair and the feisty attitude's house?" Phil asked, oblivious to the fact that the girl he spoke of, was standing right next to him. Hidden behind the green door, but nevertheless standing right next to him.

"Uh, yeah, I was… a-and now she's - "

"Now, Arnold, I thought I had taught when to take an opportunity!" Phil said in a reprimanding tone and put his hands on his sides. Arnold frowned in confusion and so did Helga. She stayed hidden behind the door, hoping to get some fun out of the fact that Arnold's grandpa still didn't know she was there.

"What do you mean 'an opportunity'?" Arnold asked, for a moment forgetting that Phil's answer might not be in his favor. Phil rolled his eyes. "When you're at a girl's house, then you go for it! You don't go home and just leave her hanging. She even invited you herself, didn't she?"

"Huh? 'Go for it'? Go for…" Arnold muttered, but when he noticed Helga was wearing a big grin on her face, he realized what his grandpa wanted him to _go for_. He felt his cheeks grow hotter than a stove on full volume. "Grandpa!"

"What? Your father would tell you the same thing." Phil pointed out. "I don't wanna hear it from dad either!" Arnold exclaimed and grabbed ahold of his head, as he dared to look at Helga. She was holding her mouth and her stomach, while her shoulders were shaking. _Great. No way am I getting out of this alive._ He thought with a silent sigh.

"Now, don't be such a sissy, short man. Is it time you and I had _the talk_?" Phil asked as he wriggled his eyebrows. "The talk…? Wait. What? No! I don't want to hear you talk about… about stuff! Can't you go back to telling me to never eat raspberries? I miss that advice!" Arnold shrieked, his cheeks still reddening more and more.

"How could not eating raspberries help this situation, eh?"

"You used not to care about whether it'd help or not!"

"Besides, isn't the term called 'pop your cherry' and not raspberry?" Phil asked as he gave a pensive look. "Oh, my God…" Arnold said in a quiet voice and let his hand smack against his face. Helga was now at the point, where her stomach was hurting from having to hold back her laughter, but she was stubborn. _No way in Hell am I missing this opportunity to listen to Arnold talking with his grandpa about… 'stuff'._

"Maybe we should ask your dad to join the talk." Phil suddenly pointed out and turned around. "Huh? No!" Arnold exclaimed and grabbed the railing. "Miles! Your son is home! And I'm trying to whack some common boyish sense into him!" Phil called and turned around again.

That did it. "Grandpa! Helga's right next to you! _Right next to you_!" Arnold finally admitted, feeling no need whatsoever to have the conversation continued without Phil knowing this fact. "Huh?" he mumbled and looked around. "I don't see anyone here but you, short man."

"Behind the door!" Arnold explained and pointed. Phil took the door handle in his hand and moved the door a bit, so he could see Helga. She straightened her back immediately, still holding her mouth and stomach though.

"… It's ok, Helga, you can laugh." Arnold said in exasperation. At his acceptance of her pain, Helga broke out into hysterical laughter. "Oh, good afternoon, Helga." Phil said. He wasn't oblivious to what she had just heard, but like with everything else in his life, he took it with a smile like the old coot, he always himself said that he was.

Helga managed to keep her laughter short though, as she straightened her back again with a big smile. "Good afternoon." She answered politely. "You know, it's not nice to eavesdrop, young lady." Phil reprimanded with a very unserious tone. "I know. I'm sorry, sir." She answered, knowing very well how many times she'd been close to being busted at Arnold's house by Phil.

"Hey, what are you doing here anyway?" Phil asked with a cocked eyebrow. "Oh, Arnold invited me over, since my dad's a pain in the ass." Helga answered honestly, knowing exactly how Phil would react. He nodded thoughtfully. "I have to agree with you on that one, Helga, your dad is one mean old… Wait, you said that Arnold invited you?"

"Uh-huh." Helga answered, slowly realizing where this conversation would go. _Again_. Phil turned to look at Arnold, who had just gone up the steps yet again, and flashed him a big, proud smile. "Well, kudos, my boy!" he said and smacked his back a little too hard. "Didn't think you had it in ya'!"

Helga snickered and turned her face away in an attempt to conceal her laughter. "Had what in…" Arnold started, when he once again realized the meaning of Phil's words. "_Grandpa, no_! That is _not_ why I invited her over! I-I - "

"Now, where are my manners? Come on in, Helga!" Phil said and gently grabbed Helga's wrist. She giggled and turned around to look at Arnold as Phil pulled her inside. Arnold was standing there with a dumbfounded look on his face. "You're right, Helga! Maybe it's best if you just went home." He said, even though he knew it would be to no avail.

"Hell no!" Helga answered and started laughing manically. Phil pulled Helga into the dining room, with Arnold following closely behind them. "Hi, everybody. Look who Arnold brought over." Phil said, earning the attention of _every single boarder_ in the room. "It's Helga!"

"Hello, Helga!"

"Hi, Helga!"

"How are you doing?"

Helga just lifted her free hand and waved it. She felt a little embarrassed, but knowing how embarrassed Arnold must have felt, made her embarrassment very small in comparison. "Did you call me, dad?" Miles asked, suddenly appearing from the kitchen. When he saw Helga, he smiled broadly. "Good afternoon, Helga."

"G-Good afternoon." Helga answered with a smile. "Yeah, now that you've said hello to everybody," Arnold said in clear embarrassment and grabbed her free hand. "then let's just get upstairs already."

"Now, now, Arnold, we all know you are very eager to bring your girlfriend up _into your room_, but don't be impolite." Phil said with a big grin. "No!" Arnold exclaimed as everyone in the room laughed. "That' is _not_ why I - "

"You should join us for lunch, Helga." Stella suggested with a big grin. Helga was about to answer, when Arnold beat her to it. "No!" he said in mortification. "Now, Arnold, are you embarrassed of Helga or something?" Miles asked in a mocking reprimanding tone.

Helga decided to play along, and so she crossed her arms and turned to look at him with a questioning look. "Yeah, Arnold. Are you?" she asked, but couldn't help the small grin that appeared on her face. He frowned at her, knowing very well how much fun she was having with all of this. "I'm not embarrassed of _you_, Helga, I'm embarrassed of _everyone else_ in this entire room."

"How rude!" Mr. Hyuhn chimed in. "Yeah, Arnold, what's with that?" Ernie asked and shook his head in disappointment. "Come on, can you blame me?" Arnold asked and turned to look at Helga with pleading eyes. "Helga, I _beg of you_…"

Helga started feeling sorry for him, so she nodded. "All right, all right. You win, head boy, let's go upstairs, so we can - " she had only just grabbed his hand, when her other hand was taken by Stella. "Oh, no, you're not. It's been such a long time since I last talked with you, Helga. Please join us for lunch. I promise to keep the men in the house in check."

_And who's gonna keep you in check?_ Arnold wondered in his head with a frown, ready to just pull Helga with him if necessary. Before she could even consider answering, Phil went behind her and Arnold to push at them. "You heard the woman of the house. Sit down!" he ordered and pushed them to the table. Doing her best not to fall, Helga sat down immediately and Arnold did the same next to her. They turned to glance at each other with big eyes.

"Well… looks like we'll be having lunch with your family, eh?" Helga observed and chuckled. Arnold did the same thing, but his chuckle sounded rather mortified. _Oh, God… This won't be pretty._

"Let me start out by something simple. How are you doing, Helga?" Stella asked as she sat down in front of the girl in question. "I'm doing pretty well, Stella. How about you?" Helga asked with a genuine smile.

"I'm doing well too, Helga, thank you, but could you go a little deeper than that? How is life treating you?"

_Oh, let's see… A guy overheard me monologging about your son, he just happens to be your nephew-in-law and now he's blackmailing into doing things completely out of my comfort zone for his own amusement. Yeah, I'm just freaking dandy._ Helga thought and had to chuckle at her own thoughts. _Don't think I should open up the blackmail bag in public._

"It's hard to answer such a wide question." Helga simply answered with a shrug, trying hard to get away from the attention. "Well, all right… How is your family?" Stella asked then. She didn't know of Helga's family, except for the fact it was commonly known that Big Bob wasn't the kindest man in the world.

At the mentioning of her family, Helga's face turned into a small frown. Small or not, it wasn't lost on Stella, and she realized her mistake. Arnold didn't have to give her the look he gave her, but did so anyway.

"Same old." Helga answered with a slight smile. Arnold felt like sighing at her answer. No one else around the table knew exactly how the same old was, and it wasn't good. "Oh, that's good then. How about school? You struggling with the homework?" Stella quickly asked, doing her best to get out of the awkward topic.

Arnold snorted at her choice of question though. Stella was wondering if she had asked yet another bad question, until Helga turned to glance at Arnold with an eyebrow quirked. "And what does that sound mean, football head?" she asked.

Arnold glanced at Helga with a smile. "It's just… the thought of you _struggling_ with homework. It's just so unlikely." He answered honestly. She put her hand on the table and started tapping her fingers with a smirk. "Explain, please."

"Oh, come on, Helga. You're the smartest girl in class, if not _the_ smartest. Period." Arnold answered. _Boing_… Helga thought as if trying to give the sound of her current heartbeat a name. "Wha… How am I… How do you know that?"

"Everyone knows. Every time no one else in class can answer a question, the teacher asks you, knowing very well that you know the answer, despite the fact you never volunteer." Arnold answered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Have you been stalking me or something?" Helga asked with big eyes. Arnold gave a tired frown. "Sure, Helga, I've been stalking you by noticing small things you say or do inside _our_ classroom. I'm the best stalker in the world."

Helga just snickered at him and smacked the back of his head playfully. "Oh, shut up, football head." She said and blew a raspberry at him. He had to laugh at the childish gesture that somehow suited her very well.

"Oh, right. I've been meaning to ask you this, Helga, how did you come up with 'football head'?" Miles asked with a smile while he finally sat down next to his wife. Helga looked at him in incredulity. "You're kidding!" she exclaimed and took ahold of a tuff in Arnold's hair. "It's football shaped! It's quite obvious. I'm not the only one who's ever called him that."

"Who else calls him that?" Phil asked, who had also been wondering the same thing as Miles. "No one in particular, but it has been said quite a few times over the years." Helga answered with a shrug and then gave a delighted smile. "But I'm proud to tell you that _I_ was the first one to call him 'football head'."

"And also the only one who _continuously_ calls me 'football head'." Arnold added with a slight smile. _That's also something that should have made me notice my feelings for Helga sooner… Her nicknames don't bother me all that much. Especially 'football head'. In a way, that one is special to me. To us._

"You got it, football head." Helga answered and nudged her elbow at Arnold. He couldn't help the very dazed smile he gave her, and she could feel her own lovesick smile appear. "Maybe we should chime in and start calling him football head too, Miles?" Stella asked teasingly.

Arnold looked at his parents in horror, while Helga watched them in curiosity. "Sweetheart, wouldn't that be… the pot calling the kettle black?" Miles asked teasingly. "My head is not nearly as wide as Arnold's!" she answered with a chuckle. "He's got it from you though." He pointed out and gestured to his own head, which was pretty tall rather than round or wide.

Stella sighed and put her head in her chin. "His head is still wider, that's why no one else has called _me_ football head." She pointed out with a smirk. "You really want to start calling your own son football head?" Phil asked with a big smile. She shrugged. "Why not? It's cute isn't it? It would be the perfect - "

"No!" Arnold interrupted in slight anger. The whole table turned to stare at him in surprise, including Helga. "No one else starts calling me 'football head'. No discussion." He added and sat back in his seat with a frown.

_I wonder if it really does bother him that I call him football head…_? Helga couldn't help but wonder and frowned a bit with a guilty conscience. "Why not, Arnold?" Miles asked in curiosity. He watched as Arnold glanced at Helga in the corner of his eyes, before sighing a bit and answering. "Because… only… only Helga gets to call me that."

Helga's eyes, which continued to stare at the table, went wide in shock. _Only I get to call him… Arnold!_ She felt like swooning on the spot. To hide her very big smile, she put her elbow on the table, turned her face as far away from Arnold as possible and hid her mouth behind her hand.

Despite Helga's attempt at hiding her happiness, everyone else around her saw it clearly. Arnold excluded since he himself was still staring at the table while playing with a spoon. Miles and Stella tuned to look at each other with very happy smiles.

"All right. It's a special name only for you two. We got it." Stella said, doing her best hold back a sigh in happiness on her son's behalf. Helga removed her hand and let a more regular smile show, while Arnold only just now started smiling, since the chance of the name 'football head' no longer was in danger of becoming a prominent nickname within his household.

Helga, getting her usual attitude back, lifted her hand and smacked the back of Arnold's head a little harder than before. "Ow!" he exclaimed in more surprise than pain. He put his hand to the sore spot and turned at her. "What was that for?"

"For being a stupid football head, that's what!" Helga answered in frustration. Her heart was beating so fast, that she thought she could pass out any second. "What did I do wrong?" Arnold asked and let go of his head. "Shut up!" she shrieked and faced away from him again.

Arnold eyebrows quirked and he turned to look at the others for an answer. He noticed the smirks on everyone's lips and he gave a face that clearly stated he wanted to know what all this was about. Miles rolled his eyes and put his hands to his chest. Arnold watched him, as he pumped his hands back and forth in front of his heart and then pointed to Helga, who was oblivious to the whole thing.

_What is that supposed to mean?_ Arnold didn't understand what his dad was trying to say at all, so he just lifted his arms in a resignedly way. Miles smacked his hand against his forehead and turned to his own father. "I never knew my son would be this dense." He whispered and Phil nodded in agreement.

In the silence, Helga and Arnold equally realized something. They both looked around the table, but neither found what they were looking for. "Where's Aaron?" they asked in unison and stared at each other in surprise, when they heard the others' voice ask the same question.

"Oh, he called this morning. Something about him having slept at Rhonda's house." Stella answered nonchalantly. Helga smiled immediately. "Really?" she turned to look at Arnold. "You think he got lucky?"

"I'd say Rhonda would be the lucky one, the way she's been after him since he arrived." Arnold answered and couldn't help the snicker that followed. _What a relief. If he really did have sex with Rhonda, and with Helga knowing that, his chances just went to zero, no matter what they might have been before._

"Buenas tardes, everybody!" Gertie said, appearing from inside the kitchen. She was wearing a very Spanish looking dress as she was carrying a huge tray on her left arm. On the tray were several plates with quesadillas on them. "Atrapalo!"

"Atra what?" Helga asked Arnold. "Fetch!" he answered with a big smile and stood up. "Fetch what?" she asked, starting to feel something dangerous approaching. She stood up and turned to look at Gertie again, just as she threw the plates at them.

"Whoa!" Helga yelped and grabbed a plate. As soon as she did, another one came flying and so she grabbed that one too. Soon managing to breathe and catch at the same time, she and Arnold caught all the plates and delivered them to everyone safely.

"Whoo!" Helga exclaimed and sat down again with a big satisfied smile on her face. "Muchas gracias, niños." Gertie said before walking into the kitchen again. Helga lifted her hand and waved tiredly at her. "De nada!"

The group of boarders laughed at Helga's tired expression, but she was also smiling. "It's official: I love this family. You're all basket cases, just like me." She said and straightened her back. "I kinda hope that when I reach Gertie's age, that I'll be just as fun."

Arnold couldn't help the lovesick gaze he gave her, at being reminded of the love story between his grandparents. "I… have a feeling you will." He said, earning a smile from her. "You think so?" she asked, which he immediately nodded yes to. He also noticed the big grin on Phil's face, as he did so.

The sweet moment was interrupted by the sound of tango music. Helga's eyes and ears perked right up and she turned, only to see Gertie in the middle of a way too sensual tango dance step for her age. "Oh, my god!" Helga exclaimed behind her hand, only for Arnold to hear, who had just put his hand in front of his eyes. _I need therapy after this._ He thought.

Helga leaned close to Arnold's ear, as Gertie continued to dance. "I thought the theme of this lunch was Spanish?" she asked. He turned to whisper in her ear too. "It is. Why do you ask?" he asked right back. "Because tango's origin is Argentina, not Spain." She answered. "Helga, my grandma thinks it's 4th of July at Thanksgiving. Forget where things are from!" Arnold pointed out and chuckled with Helga.

Helga and Arnold were pulled out of their private laughter, when the table in front of them wobbled a bit. They glanced at the table, only to look up and see Gertie up on the table, skillfully avoiding every plate on it as she kept dancing.

"Whoa! You go, Gertie!" Helga exclaimed and cheered on her. She was laughing so happily, that Arnold couldn't get himself to feel as embarrassed as he probably should have. _Hey, if she's enjoying it…_ he thought before cheering together with her.

Phil suddenly had an idea that might spice things up a bit. "Gertie! How about a dance with Helga?" he suggested. Helga would have spit out whatever she had been drinking, if she had been drinking anything. Instead she choked on her own breath. "What?" she shrieked in a mix of amusement and fear.

"Let's cut a rug, Eleanor!" Gertie said as she took Helga's hand in her own. She hadn't expected the elder woman to be so strong, so she didn't fight back when she was pulled up in the table with her. "Whoa!" she exclaimed, before being forced into a familiar dance position.

While Helga was both laughing in hilarity and in slight panic, Stella quickly snuck over to Arnold. "Arnold," she whispered, gaining his attention. "you _need_ to try and be a bit more… forward with Helga. Do something! Dive into it! Take some chances! Just - "

"I got it!" Arnold whispered in annoyance. "Just trying to help." Stella reminded him, before winking and walking over to her own seat again. _I know what mom is saying… I just need a chance to get Helga away from grandma._ He thought and looked up again.

Arnold only just had that thought, before some blonde hair hit him in his face. Helga shrieked, as Gertie dipped her backwards so that her face was close to Arnold's. Even if it was upside-down. "Help me!" she begged while laughing, before being pulled up again.

Arnold laughed a little, before standing up and moving away from the chair. "Grandma, may I cut in?" he asked and held his hand out. "Por supuesto!" she answered and twirled Helga around. She continued her twirl as she stepped towards the edge of the table. Before she fell, Arnold held out his arms and caught her quite gracefully.

Helga was gasping while wearing the biggest smile imaginable. She was having the time of her life, just being around Arnold and his family. _Oh, my gosh! I am in his arms!_ She squealed on the inside, but was taken aback when she noticed the sultry look in his eyes.

Arnold put Helga's feet back to the ground, before he put his hand on her waist. He snuck around her, making her turn around too, before he took her hand in his other one. He didn't start dancing though. He was waiting for her to catch on, because he knew how good of a dancer she was, if she wished to be.

Helga gave a slight smirk, which then turned into a genuine smile. She stepped back in a light tap, and Arnold followed her and soon took over, as they danced around the dining room. Everyone were staring at them in awe and silence, no one daring to say a word to interrupt them.

Though it could be discussed whether their tango as children was slightly sensual for their age, it was now obvious they both had grown up. Both with matching sultry looks in their eyes and a smirk, they coiled their bodies around each other.

They were in perfect synch and sometimes, Arnold could swear that Helga could read his mind. It couldn't have been easy to foresee, that he had wanted her to sit halfway on his hips, when he kicked gently at her legs. She had though, and was now currently letting him twirl her around, as she kept her legs tightly bend to stay put in this dangerous position.

Arnold, knowing the song far too well through the years, knew it was close to an end. He wanted to shock Helga, maybe even more than when they first danced the tango. His next move could be a little dangerous, but there was no way he'd let her fall, if she didn't realize what he was up to.

With a very small breath to calm himself, Arnold then ended their spinning and lifted Helga up a little. Catching on to this particular move, she straightened her legs and was ready to be put down to the ground again. When he did, he swung her out, both of their arms stretched as far as possible.

It was clear to Helga that the song was towards an ending, and Arnold had a look in his eyes that made her crumble with excitement, fear and lust. She knew he was planning something, and she just hoped she could react fast enough to not end up in some hidden pool under the floor.

Arnold pulled at Helga's hand roughly, and she felt herself twirl close to him, before feeling his arm snake around her own. _What in the…?_ She managed to think, before she could feel herself being tipped back. Reacting on instinct, she tightened her arm muscles around his arm and pulled her leg up to twist it around his hips, not to fall down.

Helga shrieked a little, when she felt her back hit Arnold's knee. She opened her eyes and let every muscle in her body feel what was going on. From the boarders' point of view, Arnold's right arm was hooked around Helga's right arm to hold her up, while his left arm was on her hip as extra leverage. His right leg was bend heavily, conveniently placed under Helga's shoulder blade to keep her up.

Helga was angled almost horizontally, the tip of her hair grazing the planks. She held her right arm tightly around Arnold's in their arm lock and had just put her left hand on his shoulder, digging her fingers into the soft fabric of his shirt. Her right leg was still tightly wrapped around his waist, and her chest was moving up and down from her unsteady breathing.

Arnold, more than both relieved and dazed that he had indeed shocked Helga to this extend, let his left hand travel from her hip and down her thigh. Doing so, he bend her back just a little further, so she now fully levelled.

Coming out of their shock, the boarders started whistling and hollering at the sight. "Way to go, Arnold! Your grandma taught you well!" Ernie called as he clapped with the others. Helga couldn't help but smile at Arnold. "Pull me up!" she demanded and tightened her grip around his shoulder a bit.

With a laugh, Arnold did as told and pulled Helga up in an upright position. "What were you thinking? You could have dropped me!" she shrieked, but her big smile exposed her true opinion about his little stunt. _My God! I swear my heart stopped beating when I almost hit the floor… And, oh, my gosh, Arnold's hand touched my thigh. He let his hand caress my thigh for just a tiny bit. Oh, why oh why, am I wearing these stupid sweatpants?!_

Arnold smiled genuinely and shook his head. "I wouldn't have dropped you." He said with no doubt in his voice. Helga cocked her head slightly to the side with a curious smile on her face. "How can you be so sure?" she asked in a dazed voice.

Arnold smirked lovingly and stepped closer to Helga. He let his fingers caress her hand just a bit and let his lips get close enough to her ear, so that she could feel his breath tickle down her neck, and then he whispered ever so gently. "You were in good hands."

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: Ok, firstly: I know SHIT Spanish, ok? xD I used google translate. PLEASE tell me if I wrote anything wrong. Since I've never received proper Spanish lessons, I'm bound to make a mistake xD**

**Secondly: Arnold and Helga's dance are based off on a scene in the movie "Roadside Romeo". If you know the movie, then it's the dance at the rooftop. The end position is from the second dance though (when they're on the stage together). Except that, Laila has her free arm laying down, and Helga's got it on Arnold's shoulder. If you don't know the movie and are curious, then please write me a message on deviantArt or YouTube asking for the link :3**

**FYI the next chapter won't be up until sunday! Having a friend over saturday so... yeah! :P**


	19. I knew you disliked me

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**Arnold had been sure that when his very embarrassing phone conversation with his parents, while Helga was listening, would forever be on the top of his 'embarrassing moments' list. Fat chance. As he finally succeeded in convincing Helga to join him inside the boarding house, both his grandpa, parents and the other boarders embarrassed to the point where he wanted to run and hide.**_

_**Stella convinced them both to eat lunch with them though, and even if Arnold was still embarrassed by all means, then as he watched Helga happily doing the tango with his grandma, nothing really seemed to matter. That also gave him the chance of cutting in and doing the tango with her himself, as they did as children.**_

**Author's 1st note: OK, first of all, I am so very sorry that this is late xD When I had my friend over yesterday, we ended up drinking together and I fell asleep around 5am… (Denmark is 8 hours ahead of America, do the math :P) so, yeah, that's why this chapter seems to have taken longer xD**

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Chapter 19: "I knew you disliked me"

Arnold smirked lovingly and stepped closer to Helga. He let his fingers caress her hand just a bit and let his lips get close enough to her ear, so that she could feel his breath tickle down her neck, and then he whispered ever so gently. "You were in good hands."

Helga felt paralyzed. She completely and utterly froze on the spot. _Oh… my… His hot breath is tickling me, and those words…_ She bit at her lower lip and turned to look at him with a drugged look. _The tango, his words, his eyes, they are all so dangerous together… I feel like I'll either faint or lose my mind!_ She opened her mouth to speak the words she had always longed to say. "Arnold… Arnold, I lo - "

"Honey, I'm home!"

Helga felt herself shake her head, as if just coming out of a daydream. Her heartbeat quickened yet again, and it almost felt as if she had awoken to reality. She looked down to their hands and pulled her own away in slight panic. _What was I just about to say?! No! No, no, no! Not like this! If I ever do tell him, then I don't want it be in front of all these people, and not in the heat of the moment! No! Never again. I want him to believe me this time._

Arnold turned around to look for the source of the voice. He knew it was Aaron, but he wanted the first thing Aaron saw to be his scowl. _I don't know what Helga was about to say, but it seemed important. She also took her hand away from mine. What is going on with these two? She seems to hate him, like really hate him, and yet she behaves so awkwardly around him._

"Sorry, I've just always wanted to say that." Aaron explained when he got into the living room. As Arnold had hoped, then the first thing Aaron saw was his scowl. He blinked in confusion. _What did I do now?_ He thought and then glanced to Arnold's side. "Helga? What are you doing here?"

Helga just stared back at him. _I don't care if Arnold's the best buffer or not, I do not want Aaron to see me with him right now. I still don't know what he's got planned, and I don't want to risk him getting any new ideas. Everything's already such a mess!_

Then Aaron started smirking in realization. "Oh, that's right! I heard from Lila that you took Helga home… but why is she here now… and why are you still dressed like that?" he asked with a cocked eyebrow, when he noticed how they were dressed. "Helga's the only one in normal clothes. So… did you sleep at her place?"

Arnold felt his heart go straight to his throat and fall down again, as if it was one of those rides that made you feel like you're falling straight to your death. He didn't know what to answer. What Helga wanted him to answer, so he turned to look at her, and she noticed immediately and looked back at him. She also didn't know what to answer. No matter what they said, Aaron would probably find out the truth anyhow.

"Yes, he did. He carried me home, got me to bed, and then accidentally fell asleep… on the floor." Helga quickly added and crossed her arms. _Better to just, say it as it is. If I don't, he might make up something worse or whatever. He'll find out one way or another probably. He seems like the type who gets what he wants, and has his ways to get information. I hate to admit it, but we'd be a dangerous team if I liked him._

Aaron cocked an eyebrow and turned to look at Arnold again. "Oh, yeah? Then how did you get her home with you afterwards?" he asked, trying to see if Arnold's facial expression would bust any lies in Helga's story. Arnold crossed his arms like Helga and answered in a monotone voice. "Easy. She wanted to say hello to the other boarders, they offered her lunch and here we are." _Helga's way is probably the best. Just say it easy and simple._ He figured.

"Speaking of people sleeping at _other_ people's houses… Why did _you_ only just get home?" Helga asked with a slight smirk. "I slept at Rhonda's." Aaron asked with an indifferent shrug. _That was too easy for him to admit._ She thought with a frown. "Oh, really? And how did that happen?"

When Aaron caught on to what Helga was hinting at, he smiled. "I slept _at_ Rhonda's, I didn't sleep _with_ Rhonda, you pervert." He answered and walked past her to the table. Both blondes turned around to frown at him in disappointment. "I just blacked out around 6am. Didn't even know where the Hell I was when I woke up. Got pretty confused when I saw her sleeping next to me."

Helga moved closer to Arnold. "I'm guessing she tried to rape him in his sleep." She whispered. He snickered and nudged his elbow at her. She snickered right back, and her disappointment started to fade away. _Oh, well. It would have been fun, if the princess could've taken over Aaron's need for amusement. Then maybe I'd get out of the line of fire._

"Oh, you haven't started eating yet, thank God. I'm starving." Aaron said and sat down. Helga quirked an eyebrow when she noticed that his seat was apparently next to hers. She frowned, and look back to Arnold. He looked back at her in confusion. Why did she look so uncomfortable all of a sudden? Then she whipped her head in a swift motion towards Aaron.

Arnold discreetly looked at Aaron, and then realization kicked in. He had to try very hard not to laugh in happiness. _I shouldn't be this happy about her being so uncomfortable around another person, definitely not my own cousin, but I really can't help it. Well, at least she wants to stay._

Arnold gave Helga a small wink, before he went to sit next to Aaron, thereby sitting in Helga's former seat. Her eyes got big and so got her smile, before she sat down where Arnold used to sit. When they were both seated, she leaned closer to him to whisper in his ear. "Thank you."

"So, I see that we're having quesadillas for lunch? Grandma, you're even dressed like that. I really love your creativity." Aaron said with an earnest smile. "Muchas gracias, mi nieto." Gertie answered with a smile and threw a plate at him. He caught it with easy, having already gotten used to the test of speed around dinnertime.

"Yeah, she even started dancing for us and everything." Oskar said, who had already finished his quesadilla and was reaching for a second one. His wife, Susie, slapped his wrist though to stop him. "And so did Arnold and Helga." She added.

Aaron's head whipped to Arnold and Helga next to him. "You danced together for them?" he asked with a curious smile. "Uh, yeah… the, uh, tango." Arnold answered, not liking Aaron's smile one bit. "Really? Like when you were children?" he asked.

"Oh, it wasn't childish whatsoever though." Ernie chimed in, followed by a snicker from both him, Oskar and Mr. Hyunh. Helga felt her cheeks get filled with heat and so did Arnold. They had managed to forget everyone around them when they danced, as they also did back at that April Fools' dance in fourth grade.

"Uh-huh. So, Helga, would you call Arnold a good dancer?" Aaron asked with a smirk. Helga frowned and leaned forward to see him better, since Arnold was sitting in-between them. "Yes, definitely." She answered without a hint of doubt in her voice.

Arnold couldn't help the small, humble smile which formed around his lips. He had been about to return the compliment with pure honesty, when Aaron started talking again. "How many other boys have you danced the tango with?"

Helga frowned in confusion. "Uh, none… Why are you…" she had been about to question his words, when his smirk gave her the answer. Her eyes went big with anger, already knowing far too well, where this was going. "I'm just wondering that… if you don't have anyone to compare with, how do we know that Arnold's a good dancer?" he asked.

"Uh, because it's obvious. You don't have to dance _with_ him. All you have to do is watch him, and you know." Helga answered, hoping with all her heart that she could sneak out of this situation. Unfortunately, Aaron wouldn't back down, and she knew she'd end up doing what he wanted. _Because he's blackmailing me… This fucking bastard._ She thought seething.

"Still, wouldn't you like to have it confirmed, Arnold?" Aaron asked. Arnold was slowly starting to catch on to what was going on and where Aaron was headed with the conversation, but not enough to know exactly what to answer. "Well, uh… how?" he simply asked.

Helga felt like smacking her head repeatedly against the table. _Arnold, I love you, but you're an idiot!_ She thought and started curling her hand into a fist. "By letting Helga do the tango with someone else, of course. I'd like to volunteer, since I've been taking classes at my mom's dance studio since I was little." Aaron answered.

Helga quirked an eyebrow. "You can dance?" she asked. Having a mom, who had a dance studio was probably a clue to how good a dancer he would be. She knew he would suggested dancing with her, but she had no idea that he'd be _good_. "Of course I can dance, Helga. Not that you would know, since we didn't get to dance last night." He answered and stood up.

Aaron walked behind Arnold and stopped next to Helga's chair. He bowed a little and extended his hand to her. "Since we have the chance, how about we dance now? Even if just to confirm that Arnold _is_ good at the tango." He suggested with a smirk.

Helga was groaning at the very core of her body. She did _not_ want to dance with Aaron, not whatsoever, but the alternative wasn't something she was ready for. With a sigh, shaky with anger, she dug her fingers into his hand when she took it. "Fine." She answered and stood up.

Helga's sour mood was of course not lost on Aaron, but he ignored it. Rather than that, he made sure to discreetly glance at Arnold to see his reaction. He almost had to snicker at the furious look in his eyes. His hand, which was laying on his thigh, was curled into a fist and he was even shaking a little.

Without any warning, Aaron turned Helga around to face him. She gasped a little, since she had been in the middle of walking. It wasn't until now, she noticed the music. _It sounds awfully familiar… Where have I heard this piece of music before?_

Like Helga, Arnold was also suddenly recognizing the music. _This sounds so familiar… but where is it from?_ He wanted to dig deeper into his brain to figure out where he knew it from, but then the music got louder and the speed picked up. He looked up again to see Aaron and Helga already dancing. He scowled deeply, and felt his foot stepping on the floor.

_I recognize this song now… It's Shakira with 'Objection', just an instrumental version. It's a pretty quick-paced tango. I'm not sure if I can follow Aaron, if he really is as good as the tango, as he claims._ Helga thought to herself, before feeling herself falling over Aaron's foot. She shrieked, sure that she would fall flat on her face, when she was swung around, so that she instead was in a _way_ leaned back position. She noticed the smirking grin on Aaron's face, and she gritted her teeth.

Helga let herself get pulled up again, and while they tip-toed around each other, she felt anger soar through her. She had always disliked Aaron, but to ask her to dance with him, and in a tango nonetheless, made her boil. She had made a solemn vow to herself to never dance like this with anyone else but Arnold, but thanks to Aaron, that was now down in the dump.

In her anger, Helga took ahold of Aaron's hand and swung him roughly away from her, until his hips hit the wall behind him. He gritted his teeth in pain for a moment, before smirking at her. _Looks like she's not going down without a fight. Fine. Have it your way, Helga._ He thought, before forcing her back to him, their chests bumping against each other's.

While Helga and Aaron continued their tango of anger, Miles took the opportunity to sneak over to Arnold. "Are you just gonna sit there?" he whispered into his ear. Arnold eyed his dad in the corner of his eye, but just sighed a bit. "What am I supposed to do?" he asked. "Cut in!" Miles answered. "Listen, you think that I was the only one, who had a crush on Stella back then? She's an attractive woman, Arnold, and I had rivals just like you do. Are you gonna let Aaron sweep Helga off her feet?"

At that moment, Aaron actually did sweep Helga up into the air, before putting her down to twirl her a couple of times in under his arm. "Literally." Miles added and put a hand to Arnold's back. "You stole her from my mom when they danced, you can steal her from Aaron too." And with those words, Miles went back to his seat.

_He's right. Why do I keep being so passive? Helga's also clearly angry at Aaron for making her dance with him. I can do this to save her too._ Arnold motivated himself and stood up. Aaron was still twirling Helga around and then let go of her hand. She kept twirling towards Arnold, and before she knew it, his hand holding hers stopped her.

Helga opened her eyes in surprise, for a second thinking that Aaron had managed to move inhumanly fast, but when she saw those familiar green eyes looking back at her with love, lust and determination, she had to gulp.

Arnold twirled Helga down, so she could lean back a little. When he pulled her back up again though, he swung her gently towards Aaron, who was already standing next to them, took her hand, and swung her back into his arms.

Bending down and putting one of his hand on her lower leg, Aaron swung Helga up, so that she could only rely on his strength not to fall down. As soon as she felt her feet connect to the ground again, she was twirled around and leaned back.

Helga felt a new pair of arms whisk her away from Aaron's, and when she was pulled up to an upright position, she was once again met with those green hunting eyes. _What… What is going? What's happening? I feel like some doll being pulled back and forth!_

Helga was on the verge to getting angry, when Arnold gave her the most dazzling smile, she could have ever imagined. He stepped around with her in a circle, making sure, she could follow along, and that was when she realized why it didn't matter, that Aaron had better technique than Arnold.

Arnold lifted his head up for a second, giving Helga a very clear warning. She smiled, nodded back and bend her knees to jump, when he would lift her. He lifted her only a little bit over the ground, and she twisted her leg around his waist right away. He swung her around in a swift motion, making it so that she was as far away from Aaron as possible.

When Helga was back to the ground, she followed Arnold's smooth steps, her walking towards him and him walking backwards. They got closer to Aaron, and she could already see him reaching for her. She tried sneaking around Arnold to get away from Aaron, but he saw that trick coming long before she did, and simply grabbed her right hand instead of her left.

Helga growled a bit, while Aaron walked right up next to her. He snaked his arm in front of her stomach and swung her down roughly. She felt her legs go limp, as he dragged her across the floor. When he pulled her back up again, she lifted one of her feet so she could turn around to face him. She put her hand on his shoulder and looked at Arnold with begging eyes.

As much as Helga hated to dance with Aaron, there was a part of her that took immense pleasure at seeing and feeling Arnold pulling her back into his arms, as if a jealous lover. It felt almost like if her dream – based off on that 'Carmen' play she, Arnold and the rest of her class once saw – had come true. Except this time, Curly wasn't the villain, and this wasn't a dream.

Arnold noticed Helga's pleading eyes immediately and had no trouble whatsoever at doing what she wished. He would have done it, even if she hadn't asked. For a moment though, he was taken aback, when Aaron twisted Helga around so that she was right next to his back. He swung her up on his back, and despite the panic she managed to roll over to the other side, without falling off.

_He keeps putting her in danger of getting hurt!_ Arnold thought in wrath. When Aaron moved for Helga to do the same thing again, only now from right to left, Arnold was ready to grab her. She noticed him immediately and fell gracefully into his arms.

Helga followed him with a smile, but this time, Arnold's anger shone through more than anything else did, and after turning her around to get away from Aaron again, he stopped the dance and turned around to face Aaron with a scowl.

"It doesn't matter how _good_ you are, how good your technique is, if you don't even know how to keep your partner safe." Arnold said. Helga felt her heart beating at that reprimanding tone. She had heard it before, when he protected someone and was practically preaching with morals. She had never heard him doing it for her though.

Aaron was listening carefully to what Arnold said with only a very small smile. "You need to make sure that your partner knows what you're up to, or else either of you might get hurt." Arnold added and turned to Helga again. With a trustful smile, he took her hands in his own.

Helga smiled, fully trusting him and already having a clue at what he'd do. She stepped back like he did, their arms stretched between each other's. He then pulled her back to him, her jumping sideways, the left part of her waist against his right and her backside on his thigh. She stretched her right leg, laying it gently on his left arm and leaning back against his right arm, knowing he'd hold her up.

Arnold leaned Helga back, while he made sure his grip was tight around her leg and her hips. He even used his left leg as extra leverage for her free leg, and that didn't go unnoticed to anyone. _He really does make sure that she's safe… _Stella thought proudly with a big smile.

Helga lifted her head, still leaned back in a crooked position. She flashed Arnold a loving smile, while he pulled her up again. It took him a couple of seconds, before he let her feet touch the floor though. He loved the feeling of her thighs on his lap and her arm around his neck, so it was natural to be hesitant about letting go.

A very slow clap pulled the blondes out of their lovesick daze. They turned to look at Aaron, who was clapping at them very slowly. It didn't seem sarcastic, and that was what made them frown. Then when the others in the room joined in on the clapping, it got quicker and louder. Before they knew it, they all erupted into an applause and Oskar even whistled at them.

Helga felt like hiding in sudden embarrassment, and therefore put her forehead on Arnold's shoulder. She moved her hand, which was already on his shoulder, to dig a little deeper into his flesh, almost as if he could protect her from the clapping. She didn't know why she suddenly felt shy, she just did.

Arnold just smiled though, put his chin on her head and rubbed her back a bit. Even if Helga didn't know where the sudden shyness came from, he had a pretty good idea. She didn't mind attention as such, but it could quickly become too much for her. He knew, she could easily get absorbed into things, and now when she had a chance to notice the people, she remembered what they had just seen her do and experience. It was probably pretty natural to feel shy.

"Gotta say, Arnold, you and Helga are in perfect synch." Aaron said as he sat down. Arnold both smiled and frowned. He hadn't expected a compliment from him. In a way, it felt like he should feel that he'd won this little competition, but Aaron didn't seem to feel like he had lost, so had Arnold even won?

"Thanks. It… comes from knowing each other very well." Arnold answered and rested his hand on Helga's lower back. She removed her head from his shoulder and smiled at him. "Yeah, yeah, you know me so well, football head." She answered and went to her seat. Something in her voice was different. It wasn't seething with sarcasm as usual, so he couldn't help the satisfied smile on his lips as he went to join her.

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"Oh, by the way, Helga… You suddenly disappeared last night, so I didn't get to talk to you about something. Mind if we do that now, since we're done eating?" Aaron asked Helga about a half hour later.

_Oh, man, here we go…_ Helga thought with a small sigh and gave a fake smile. "Yeah, I guess, but shouldn't we stay and, you know, _help_?" Helga asked, gesturing to all the dirty dishes on the table. "It'll only take a couple of minutes. Besides, Arnold's not done yet, so I'd say we got a little extra time. Come on." Aaron requested and stood up.

Helga sighed and stood up too. "Excuse me." She said with a smile to the people around the table and turned on her heel to follow Aaron. He was about to grab her wrist, when she pulled her arm far away from him. That little interaction was not lost on Arnold, who just smirked. He didn't like that they were going to talk in private, but at least Helga was very hands-off with Aaron.

"Ok, Buster, what now?" Helga asked when they were out of hearing-range. She lifted her arms and crossed them beneath her chest. "I need to ask you something first. I need confirmation." Aaron answered and leaned up against the wall.

"What?"

"… You still write poems about Arnold, don't you?"

Helga almost stumbled, even if she had been standing still. _No… No, no, no…! Not my poems. Don't blackmail me about my poems!_ She thought in a panic and scowled deeply. "No, I don't." she answered.

"Liar." Aaron said with a smirk. "I've noticed during English class, that the poem which is the best is always being read aloud, and for some funny reason, the person's always 'anonymous'. Now, the others may not realize it is you, because they don't know how poetic you are. _I do_ though, so I figured it out pretty quickly. For what it's worth, you're really good."

"I don't wanna get complimented by you! Why are you asking me about my poems?" Helga asked in a frenzy. She tried to keep her voice low, but she was seething with anger. It was such a vulnerable subject for her. Not even Dr. Bliss knew about the poetry. She knew about the shrines from her childhood, but they never came across the poems, which she still hadn't let go of.

"Isn't it obvious? I want you to write a poem."

"… For what?"

"Well, I'm generous, so I'll let you choose yourself."

"Oh, thank you, you're oh-too kind. What do you mean?"

"Option number 1: Write a poem and read it to the class."

"What!?"

"Option number 2: Write a poem for Arnold and sneak it into his locker. Kinda like a secret admirer thing. You don't have to sign it." Aaron said and crossed his arm, still with the overconfident smirk on his lips.

Helga felt like throwing up. _Reading a poem in class or writing one about Arnold to Arnold…? These are both horrible, horrible options!_ She thought, close to actual fainting. She let her hand touch her head. _I'm already feeling dizzy just thinking about it…_

Aaron noticed Helga's dazed expression and frowned. "Helga, are you all right?" he asked and reached to steady her. "Hands off!" she shouted and smacked his hand away. She scowled at him, leaning against the wall to keep herself up. "No, I am not all right. I haven't been all right, ever since you came to Hillwood."

Aaron just stared at Helga, as her breath got heavier. She took a couple of clumsy steps towards him to stand close to him. Her eyes were filled with her hatred, as she continued talking. "Let me tell you one thing, Aaron, in case you didn't know already… I have done many cruel things in my life that I regret. A lot of things, I'd like to change, but the difference between you and me, is that I have grown up. I don't use other people anymore. You remind me of myself when I was a kid and… it makes me _hate_ you. I have told many people that, but I have _never_ meant it as I do now."

Aaron was just staring into Helga's eyes, until she pushed him aside and walked back into the kitchen. He kept standing there in slight shock. He sighed and smirked a little, as he put his elbow up on the wall and leaned his head into his palm. "I knew you disliked me… but _hated_…?" he muttered and shook his head a bit.

Aaron smacked his palm against the wall, before he walked into the dining room. Without a word, he walked past Helga who hadn't noticed him coming in. When she noticed the odd look in his eyes, she glanced over her shoulder at him. He took a couple of plates in his hands and walked into the kitchen.

Helga would usually have cocked her head to the side at Aaron's odd behavior, but she was just so filled with anger right now, that she didn't have it in her to think about him. She growled a bit, took some plates in her own hands and followed him into the kitchen.

Arnold did notice the sudden change of air between Helga and Aaron, and couldn't help but worry for the both of them. It was in his nature to worry. He was pulled out his thoughts though, when his dad and his grandpa put their hands on his shoulders.

"Short man, we have a plan." Phil said with a smirk. Arnold glanced nervously at him. "What… kinda plan?" he asked. Both elder men bend forward a little to get to Arnold's height. "Just play along, all right?" Miles suggested with a wink.

_I don't like the sound of this…_ Arnold thought to himself with a small sigh. The two men then let go off him and started collecting dishes too. He joined in as he kept thinking about both Helga and Aaron, and what the heck Miles and Phil could be up to.

Arnold glanced at Helga and Aaron as they all put their dish into the dishwasher. Aaron had an out of character indifferent look on his face, while Helga seemed both mad and… scared? "Hey…" Arnold started and got the attention of both of the people in question. "What were you two just talking - "

"Well, Helga, we're really happy that you joined us for lunch." Miles interrupted, not having a clue that Arnold had been talking just before. The teens turned to look at him, while he walked to them. "Oh, uh, thanks. It was really good." Helga answered with a smile.

"Thank you, but we also feel a little bad." Miles added with a small frown. "Feel bad? Why?" Helga asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Yes, you and Arnold just wanted some time together, and we've interfered with that." Phil chimed in, also making a frown. A very odd frown, Arnold noted. _Is this the plan they were talking about…?_

"So, we'll be letting you two be alone now." Miles said and walked behind Helga. He started pushing her gently, and Phil did the same to Arnold. Aaron stared at them in confusion, but just shook his head. _This is one Hell of a crazy family._ He thought with a smile.

Helga and Arnold turned their heads to look at each other. "What's going?" Helga asked. "I-I don't know." Arnold answered honestly. He glanced behind them at the male part of his family. "Where are you taking us?"

Phil and Miles didn't answer though as they pushed them up the stairs and to the door of Arnold's room. Miles let go of Helga's back and opened the door for them, before Phil pushed them in. They both yelped in surprise, and turned their heads back to see the now closed door. A metallic click could be heard and then, silence.

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**Author's 2nd note: Yes! I am mean! xD I've always imagined that Miles and Phil would be a really sly team together. I mean, Miles is the son of Phil and Gertie for heaven's sake! How could he not be at least a little cunning? What will happen with Helga and Arnold? Well! I can tell it's a mix of what you're **_**thinking and hoping**_** and of something you're definitely not expecting! xD Stay tuned! :P**


	20. Give me a break already!

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**In the heat of the moment, Helga was almost slightly relieved that Aaron came to interrupt before she could confess to Arnold. An odd discussion brought Helga, Arnold and Aaron into a tango for three, with Aaron and Arnold stealing Helga from each other. After a very convincing argument from Arnold's side, Aaron folded and applauded the two blondes with the rest of the family.**_

_**To Helga's fear and rage, Aaron's fifth blackmail turned out to be through her poetry about Arnold. She finally snapped at him, and told him upfront that she hated him, which caused slight pain to Aaron, which he didn't understand.**_

_**Arnold didn't get the chance to ask Helga and Aaron what they had been talking about, because before he did, Miles and Phil pushed him and Helga up into his room and locked the door.**_

**Author's 1st note: To make sure no one will be confused at the beginning: We're, like, ten minutes ahead in time from when we last left off in chapter 19, and then we go back in time in **_**cursive**_**. I usually never do time-jumps back into the future, but I did here. Just so we're clear! xD**

**Warning: Slight, sexual material. Nothing you shouldn't be able to handle, since you already chose to read a story rated M! :P**

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Chapter 20: "Give me a break already!"

Miles and Phil were currently both standing very close up against Arnold's door to listen in on his conversation with Helga. "They're awfully quiet… aren't they?" Miles asked, receiving a nod from his dad. "He'd better say something this time or else I'll give him a good old fashioned whack on his bum!" Phil whispered to his son, to make sure Arnold and Helga didn't hear them. Miles nodded in agreement. "This boy is worse than me."

"That could be discussed."

"Oh, like if you're one to talk. I didn't know Stella for several years, before I finally had the guts to ask her out."

"If Stella hadn't been the one to confess to you first, you wouldn't have gotten anywhere either."

"Oh, you know that's not - "

A bang against the door interrupted Miles and Phil's conversation. They looked at the door in incredulity. "Arnold! Where is this coming from?" they could hear Helga ask from inside the room. Their eyes went big and they looked at each other.

There was silence for some seconds, before they heard Arnold's voice. "I… I don't know." he answered shyly from inside the room. "You don't think he actually…" Miles started, but then both he and Phil simply put their ears as close up against the door as physically possible.

"All I know is that… I can't hold back anymore, Helga." Arnold said and a thud could be heard. A female gasp erupted a little loudly and then silence for a couple of seconds, before two pair of moaning voices disturbed the silence.

Phil and Miles gave each other big stares. "Did he do it?" Phil asked in a whisper. "I'm not sure… They definitely went quiet though." Miles asked and leaned against the door again. Helga gasped again and panted slightly. "A-Arnold… where do you think you're touching me?"

"Touching?!" Miles and Phil almost shrieked, but managed at keeping it low. "You don't like it?" Arnold asked, also panting a bit. "It's not that… I don't like it." Helga replied shyly. "Then… can I continue?" he asked. Silence for a couple of seconds. "Yeah… please do." She answered.

Miles and Phil high-fived each other in happiness. "Your boy is becoming a man today!" Phil exclaimed in a low voice, but still filled with immense cheerfulness. "Well… my only goal was for him to finally admit his feelings for her, but… I guess the teens today are a little more forward. At least he's going somewhere." Miles added and rolled his eyes. "He finally took the step. Now hopefully, it'll follow its natural course."

"What will follow its natural course?"

Miles and Phil whipped their heads around to see Stella and Gertie standing with their hands on their hips. The men stood up, embarrassed, and walked over to their wives. "We may just have blown a little to the flame between Arnold and Helga." Miles admitted. Stella and Gertie looked confused at each other. "What do you mean?" Gertie asked.

"Oh, God!" Helga shouted from inside Arnold's room. The grown-ups turned to look at the door with big eyes, as if they stared long enough, then they'd get x-ray vision. A bang against the door could be heard. "Arnold!" her voice could be heard, obviously in pure ecstasy.

"Oh, my!" Stella exclaimed and put a hand over her mouth in shock. "Sounds like your boy is pretty good at this for a beginner." Phil said and chuckled. Stella giggled a bit, as she let her hand drop. "He must have it from his father."

"Aren't you sweet?" Miles said, put his arm over Stella's shoulders and kissed her cheek. "And my son must have it from _me_, so Arnold's got it from me too!" Phil chimed in, while they started to descend the stairs.

"Now, dear, I believe Miles' got it from _me_ though." Gertie corrected and was the first to reach the downstairs. "What! What's that supposed to mean, Pookie?" Phil asked in slight anger, but all he got from Gertie was a hysterical laughter.

Back at Arnold's room, the two teens had gone quiet. "Are they gone?" he asked in a whisper. Helga leaned her ear up against the door. She listened intensely and then smirked broadly. She turned back to him and nodded. "Yeah, they're gone now."

Arnold and Helga snickered a little bit. They couldn't help themselves. They had been so embarrassed, knowing that Miles and Phil were listening to them. He looked up at her with an amused smile. "I _still_ can't believe we did that!" he exclaimed, as the memories of only ten minutes ago rolled through his head.

* * *

_Phil and Miles didn't answer though as they pushed them up the stairs and to the door of Arnold's room. Miles let go of Helga's back and opened the door for them, before Phil pushed them in. They both yelped in surprise, and turned their heads back to see the now closed door. A metallic click could be heard and then, silence._

_Helga and Arnold kept staring at the door, trying to comprehend what had just happened. Arnold walked to the door and tried opening it. "It's locked…" he mumbled thoughtfully, still not sure what was happening. Helga turned around and tried pulling at the doorknob a little harder than he had. "The Hell… Miles! Phil! What's going on?" she asked, but received no answer._

"_Why did they lock us in?" Arnold asked and banged at the door, calling for his dad and his grandpa. Helga in the meantime just stared at the door handle, trying to figure out what they would gain from locking them in his room. Then it hit her, like an anvil in an old cartoon. It wasn't them, who was supposed to gain anything…!_

_Helga snickered loudly and put her hand to her mouth to stop it. Arnold turned to glance at her in confusion. "What are you laughing about?" he asked. She snickered for a second, but then got closer to his ear to whisper._

_As Arnold listened to Helga's theory, which they both knew was correct, everything in his body turned into a heated mess. He was about to shout 'till his lungs would give in, before she put her hand to his mouth. "No, don't!" she begged in a whisper._

_Arnold took ahold of Helga's wrist and scowled at her. "Why not?" he asked. She gave him a cunning smirk. "Don't you want to get back at them?" she asked. He wasn't sure if he liked that smile on her face, but nodded anyhow. Oh, boy, did he want to get revenge for being locked in with Helga in his room, his grandpa and dad hoping for them to… to… He couldn't even finish the thought._

_Helga leaned in front of the doorknob and looked through the keyhole. Arnold, wondering what she was doing, couldn't help but also let his eyes travel down her body. She really did have a nice figure. He shook his head immediately though. No way! His grandpa and dad were almost getting what they wanted! His thoughts had turned really dirty so quickly._

"_They're just sitting out there, listening to what will happen between us!" Helga exclaimed in a low voice. She was both angry, shocked and… kinda impressed. She had to admit that it was a nice stunt, and if it wasn't because she was so not ready to actually attack Arnold like that at the moment, then she would have thanked them later._

"_What? Seriously? All right. That's it. Helga, you're cunning, you're smart. How do we get revenge?" Arnold asked, feeling more and more embarrassed and angry. Helga bit at her lower lip and turned to him with a gleam in her eyes. "I think I know how to get rid of them… Just play along, ok?" she asked and positioned herself in front of the door, her back turned to it._

_Arnold cocked an eyebrow, but nodded at Helga's question. She smirked, turned to look at the door to make sure she was positioned correctly, and then took a swift step back and hitting it roughly. "Arnold! Where is this coming from?" she asked in a confused voice._

_Arnold's eyes went big. Helga was smiling wickedly at him and winked. "Say something!" she whispered. "I… I don't know." He answered and walked closer to her. "What are we talking about?" he whispered._

_Helga rolled her eyes. "They wanted us to, you know… get down with it, right?" she whispered. Arnold's heart jumped into his throat, and he gave an awkward nod. "Well, then let's make them believe they succeeded." She added._

_Arnold's eyes went big, and he looked at the door, knowing all too well that his dad and grandpa were listening. Even if every fiber in his being told him that this was beyond embarrassing, beyond wrong and beyond dangerous for his body and soul, he still caught himself talking in a husky voice. "All I know is that… I can't hold back anymore, Helga."_

_Helga felt her heartbeat quicken, and she had to remind herself, that this was just acting. It was a trick, and, oh, what an amazing trick it was! She gave herself a mental pat on her shoulder, reminding herself to write this down in one of her poetry books at home._

_Arnold, starting to feel that this little trick just might be pretty fun, decided to try to make it seem more real. He placed his hands on each side of Helga's head and took her completely by surprise. He wanted to kiss her for real, but since this was only a trick, it was probably better not to go too far._

_As if they could read each other's thought, Helga and Arnold started to simultaneously moan together. They were both embarrassed to boot, but focusing on the task at hand helped them keep their focus._

"_A-Arnold… where do you think you're touching me?" Helga asked, wishing in so many ways that she could truly ask him something like that one day. Arnold caught himself wishing for the same, only surprised for two seconds and before answering. "You don't like it?" he asked with a panting voice._

_Helga had to gulp at those eyes, Arnold gave her. It was like if he wasn't only acting with his voice, but with his whole body. Though, he wasn't really touching her. She wanted to scream 'no! please don't ever stop!' at the top of her lungs, but managed to only squeak out in a shy voice. "It's not that… I don't like it."_

"_Then… can I continue?" Arnold asked, starting to feel slightly aroused at the images of them actually doing what they were talking about. Helga felt her cheeks reddening and she nodded. Realizing that a nod couldn't exactly be heard, she opened her mouth to speak. "Yeah… please do."_

_Helga and Arnold then went quiet, both trying to listen to Phil and Miles conversation. "Your boy is becoming a man today!" they could hear Phil say in a low voice. Helga held her mouth to hold back a snicker. Even Arnold had to try not to laugh._

_They both kept listening, but couldn't hear much. Phil and Miles were good at keeping their voiced low, but then a new voice could be heard. A female voice. "What will follow its natural course?" Stella, they assumed, asked._

_Helga whipped her head around to look at Arnold's reaction. His dad was one thing, but his mom might be another. Miles was male like Arnold, so perhaps it didn't feel as awkward? Helga didn't know, since she didn't exactly talk to either of her parents about stuff like this._

"_We may just have blown a little to the flame between Arnold and Helga." Miles admitted outside. "I'm guessing both Gertie and Stella are out there." Helga whispered, still trying to code Arnold's reaction. He was embarrassed, no wonder, but he didn't seem to feel worse because of the sudden female attention._

"_What do you mean?" Gertie asked outside. Helga took a deep breath and opened her mouth again. "Oh, God!" she yelled in a voice of pleasure. She banged her head against the door for effect. "Arnold!"_

_The boy whose name had just been said in such a voice, by the girl he was in love with nonetheless, almost choked on his own breath. What he wouldn't give to hear her speak like that for real. Helga, doing her very best to not look at Arnold at any cost, leaned herself up against the door. She listened as the grown-ups talked for a bit, and then the voices faded away._

* * *

"Oh, come on, Arnoldo! You had just as much fun as me doing that." Helga said while wriggling her eyebrows to tease him. _'I'd rather we didn't pretend doing it…' as if I could ever say something like that._ Arnold thought with a small smile. "Fair enough. Yeah, it was fun, but I'm the one who has to deal with _the looks_, when I go out."

"Well, at least they'll be happy for you." Helga said with a teasing smirk and patted his shoulder. Arnold rolled his eyes. "They got what they wanted, so maybe now they'll leave you alone… and, hopefully, me too!" she added with a laugh and strode further into his room.

Arnold watched her. _I don't like lying though…_ He thought, fully knowing that the reason for him not liking this particular lie had nothing to do with his morals or ethics. _I really am turning into a pervert… I was a little too fond of playing along with this prank._ He dared to try and feel if _something_ in his body had changed within the last minutes. _Thank God, it's not that much… Locked in here with Helga could become really dangerous._

"Well, football head, this has been really fun. Even the whole 'your creepy, perverted and officious male part of your family locked us in' ended up with one of my best schemes ever." Helga said and giggled again. Arnold cocked an eyebrow. "What does 'officious' mean?" he wondered.

_Aren't you sweet for not knowing that…_ Helga couldn't help but think. "It means to interfere and offer one's unwanted help to people." She explained. "Oh." Arnold muttered and started chuckling. _Yeah, they're officious all right… and all that other stuff to._

"But as much fun as it really has been, then I need to mosey my way home. I don't wanna risk my dad noticing me gone. He may not give a shit about me, but he likes to think that he's still in control of me anyway." Helga explained and looked up into the sky through Arnold's roof made of glass.

"How do you plan on getting out?" Arnold asked, not really wanting her to go. "Oh, please. There's a fire escape right outside, and even if there wasn't, then there's your roof too. Let me show you how it's done, football head." She answered and strode over to his desk.

Arnold eyed Helga, as she seemed to take a deep breath to calm herself. Then she darted off like a bullet, running towards his bed. She then elegantly jumped over the bed, landed swiftly on his wall with an embedded ladder and took ahold of the handle to his skylight to keep herself dangling. "See? Didn't even get my dirty shoes on your bed." She announced proudly.

Arnold didn't know exactly why, but for some reason he felt a 'problem' growing in his pants, at seeing Helga make an agile jump like that. He quickly sat down on his couch to hide it and showed an impressed smile instead. "Whoa, Helga, I… don't think I would've made that jump."

Helga giggled proudly and climbed up. She opened the glass door, jumped outside and turned around to wave. "See you at school tomorrow, Arnoldo. It's been fun." She said and then closed the window behind her. He could see her walk away for a couple of seconds, until she was completely out of view.

Arnold let himself fall backwards onto his bed. He let out a deep sigh, he didn't know he had been holding in. "I'm gonna kill my dad… and my grandpa… then Aaron… and then myself. Simple as that. No more dealing with situations that could kill me." With those words, he felt a particular part of himself move a little on its own. "Oh, would you give me a break already! Not that I can blame you…"

Arnold closed his eyes and saw Helga in front of him immediately, as she had been before. Leaned up against the door, faking moans like there was no tomorrow. Those shimmering, blue eyes all filled with lust, as if she couldn't help but acting like that all the way.

"No!" Arnold exclaimed to himself, when he felt his pants tighten a bit. He turned around to put his face into his pillow and he pulled it closer to him by the hands. It didn't matter how much he forced his eyelids to close, the image of Helga like that wouldn't leave. He'd always wondered what kind of face she'd make, what kind of sounds she'd do… Seeing her faking it… he couldn't help but wonder if… she wouldn't actually look and sound like that for real…?

"Stop it!" Arnold whispered to himself, pulled the pillow away from his face and put it over the back of his head, as if he was an ostrich hiding from the world. The image of Helga only got clearer, and now she was even on a bed… _his_ bed, making those whimpering noises and gasping.

Arnold sat up in a swift emotion and put the pillow onto his lap. "Go down!" he whispered, pleadingly, knowing it wouldn't exactly listen to him. "_Oh, God… Arnold!_" Helga's voice erupted in his mind and he leaned forward over the pillow. "Calm down… Calm down… _Please_…" he begged.

In his head, he could see Helga swaying her hips, like she had done the night before at that last dance. Except this time, she wasn't dressed in that beautiful pink gown. She was wearing something that best could be described as a gypsy dress. It was like the red dress Esmeralda wore at 'The festival of fools' in 'The hunchback of Notre Dame'.

Helga was moving slowly and sensually to some random sensual beat. She had her arms high above her head and were snaking them down slowly in front of her chest in a wavy motion. When her hands reached her stomach, she coiled her chest forward, letting her hips follow slowly. She twisted hear hips, swayed around in a circle around herself and her moves were so seductive that Arnold hadn't even noticed where his hand automatically had gotten to.

"… Shit… I can't believe I'm doing this…" Arnold muttered under his breath and used his free hand to wipe some sweat off his forehead. The image of Helga starting to untie the sash around her waist returned on full force though, making him forget common sense and courtesy. "Helga…!"

* * *

"Arnold!" Helga shrieked almost too loudly and coiled her hips against her hand a couple of times, before sinking down to her bed again. Her chest pumped up and down, while she slowly steadied her breath. Her hand fell to her side and she couldn't help looking at it. "Whoa… been a long time coming, I guess… Geez."

Helga stood up from her bed and sneaked out of her room. She ran through the hallway and into the bathroom, locked the door and went to the sink. She looked at herself in her mirror. Her hair was one big mess, and she noticed that her cheeks were still slightly flushed.

Helga turned on the faucet, making the water icy cold and splashed it on her face. She looked at herself in the mirror again, noticing the drops trickle down her face and down her neck to her almost exposed chest. "Damn tank-top…" she muttered and pulled at it a little in an attempt at cooling down.

Helga went back to her room, flopping down on her bed. Her breath had calmed down, but the images of Arnold swinging her around during _both_ tangos today were still fresh in her mind. "_No_, body, behave." She reprimanded and pulled her legs together.

After feeling in control of her body again, Helga stood up and went to take her newest pink book. She sat on her bed and started scribbling down. She kept scribbling for several pages, before she finally felt like she had finished it. "Whoa, my longest one ever, I think…" she mumbled and laid back against her bed, holding her book close to her chest.

"Oh, Arnold… if only today hadn't been pretend. If I really could feel your hands touch my body, feel your lips on my skin… I would be the happiest girl in the world… My little love god… My… sex god… No! Behave!" Helga exclaimed, slightly angry at her own body. "Can't even seem to control my own body nowadays…"

Wanting herself to think about something completely unsexual, Helga caught herself thinking of Aaron. She snickered at her own cruel thoughts, but then she remembered their last conversation. "Maybe I was… a little harsh…?" then she frowned and shook her head. "No. Interfering with my poems is crossing the line. It's like asking me to publish my dairy. Stupid, Arnold. Spending time with you is giving me a conscience."

Then Helga started wondering: Which option was actually the best? Writing a poem and reading it to the class, or giving Arnold a private poem? She tried thinking about the two options, but she kept going back and forth between both.

Helga sighed. "Time to make a pros and cons list." She mumbled and started scribbling down in another notebook. No way would she use one of her poetry books for anything but poetry. "All right… let's start with a private poem to Arnold… Pros: 1, I won't write my name on it, so he won't necessarily realize it's Helga Pataki who wrote a poem. 2, it could give me a chance to maybe even check how he'd react, if he suddenly got a secret admirer. 3, it could maybe also help me get some of my feelings out without much risk…" she muttered and wrote those three pros down.

"Ok, and now the cons: 1, Arnold might decide to _not_ be dense and actually figure out it's me… 2, he might even try to figure out who wrote the poem, like he did back in fourth grade when I lost one of my books… 3, he might even think that the person writing _this_ poem is the same one. 4, he might remember that _I did_ stop him from reading the very last poem. He didn't realize back then, but he must have gotten at least slightly less dense through the years… Did I mention he might figure out it's me?" Helga muttered and wrote it all down.

With a sigh, Helga continued to mumble. "Ok, reading a poem to class. Pros: 1, I don't have to write a love poem. It could be just something random. It won't be my best work, but who cares about that? 2… uh, 2… My God, that's it?" she mumbled and tried skimming through her brain. "Well… I _guess_ it's also a pro that Arnold might be the type to like seeing this new side of me… problem is, everyone will see it to… No, not a pro. Definitely not."

"And now the cons…" Helga mumbled and scribbled down immediately. "1, _everyone_, and not just Arnold, will see _me_, Helga G. Pataki, actually write and _perform_ a _poem_! 2, it'll be the most humiliating day of my life. 3, it will _continue_ to be humiliating, since everyone will mock me for the rest of my life. At least until I graduate. 4, even Aaron will hear that poem. He already knows enough about me! I don't want him to hear my inner thoughts too…"

Helga lifted the list up and reread it. She made a huge sigh. "Well… Helga, old girl, I guess it's obvious which one is best… or at least, which one you'd rather do. Next problem… actually writing a poem _to_ Arnold." She said to herself.

Helga laid down on her stomach in front of her pink book. She took the pencil in her hand and stared down at the blank page. "How… am I supposed to do this…? Should I sound like a girl confessing my love to him… or maybe I should just choose one of my older poems… I'll try to write something new first, though this feels really… weird." And with those thought, she started scribbling down.

* * *

An hour later, yet another paper was tossed carelessly on the floor. The floor was filled with curled up paper and Helga almost wanted to scream and pull at her pigtails. "That's it! I can't do this! I might as well just rip out my own heart, wrap it in a pink bow and give it directly to Arnold. I can't do it!" she shrieked and plopped down on her bed.

With a sigh, Helga stood up and went over to her row of pink books. "There must be an old one, I can just use… Aaron didn't say anything about a new poem. Besides, he haven't heard any of my poems anyway, how would he know?" she mumbled and opened a book from back in fourth grade. She wrinkled her nose a bit. "I hope I've gotten better though… They're not bad or anything, but… I should have improved through the years. Now, let's see…"

Helga skimmed through the poems. Some she really liked, others she shook her head at. "No way… Not that one… Hell no… This one's good, but… Here!" she exclaimed and laid down on her bed again. She ripped a blank page out of her notebook, and started writing her chosen poem down. "Arnold… Sworn… My darling… Prometheus… Tormented soul… and here we go!" She mumbled with a smile and looked through it. "Yeah… this will work. Ok… now… how do I give it to him?"

Helga turned around to lay on her back, as she kept rereading the poem. "His locker at school would probably be best. Any girl at the whole school can find his locker, if they want to. That way the chance of him realizing it's me, would also be smaller… Guess I'll be going early to school tomorrow to sneak it in his locker." She muttered with a smile and pulled her phone out of her pocket. "Only 3pm… Now, what to do with the rest of the day?"

* * *

At the boarding house, Arnold was in the middle of phoning his mom. "Hello?" Stella answered. "Mom, could you let me out of my room now, please?" he begged. "Oh, of course, sweety! Guess the men forgot to unlock the door. I'll be right up." She answered and hung up

A minute later, Arnold heard the door be unlocked. "Here we go. Sorry, honey." Stella said embarrassed and eyed him. "It's ok." He answered nonchalantly and walked past her. She cocked an eyebrow. "Where's Helga?" she asked.

"She snuck out hours ago." Arnold answered and walked down the stairs. "What?!" Stella shrieked and followed him. "By going onto the roof and then… down the fire escape, I guess?" he hadn't really thought it through, but he figured Helga knew what she was doing.

Stella frowned. "Hours ago, huh?" she asked. Arnold turned around with a smirk. "Yeah, _hours_ ago." He repeated and gave an annoyed frown. "Tell me, mom, were you and grandma in on this 'let's lock Arnold in Helga in the same room' plan?"

"No! Your grandma and I didn't know anything, until we saw them hunched over outside the door." Stella answered in slight panic. Arnold crossed his arms with a sour look. "So you admit those two did plan this, you and grandma found out, and you didn't help me?" he asked.

"Well… in a way doing this _was_ a way to help you… It worked, didn't it?"

"No! It did not! And that's what I want to talk to you guys about."

"Talk about what…? Wait! What do you mean 'it did not'?"

"I'll tell you guys now. Can you… Can you just get dad and grandpa into the living room and make sure the other boarders stay away?" Arnold begged and went into the living room without waiting for an answer.

* * *

Not too long after, Arnold saw Miles, Phil, Gertie and Stella come into the living room. Arnold was wearing a serious scowl and had his arms crossed. Miles and Phil had a look of both curiosity, gleam and fear. "Didn't… Didn't you and Helga have fun?" Miles dared to ask nervously.

"Oh, we had fun all right." Arnold answered with a seething smirk. Miles and Phil started smiling. "But _not_ the way you're thinking." Until Arnold added that. "What? What do you mean?" Phil asked and started scratching his head. "Your dad and I overheard - "

Arnold growled at the back of his throat. "Helga and I faked all that to get revenge for everything you put us through today!" he explained. "What?!" all the adults yelled in unison. They either shook their heads in amusement or disappointment.

"What were you thinking?" Arnold asked and stood up. "Locking me in a room alone with Helga! Are you insane or something? What did you hope to gain? No! Wait! I don't wanna hear it! This has been the most embarrassing day of my life! First I wake up next to the girl I've been in love with almost my whole life, then my parents call me and starts questioning our activities, _then_ my grandpa pulls her in, and he even _with my dad_ locked me in a room with her! And all it resulted in was me getting…" he stopped talking immediately as recent events roamed in his head.

Arnold shook his head. "Never mind… Look, I know you're all trying to help me, but… it… it's _really_ not good for my heart to have to be on my tip-toes like that whenever Helga and you guys are in the same room. Please, if I _ever_ dare to bring her over again, can you act more normal?" he begged with pleading eyes.

Stella took five big steps over to Arnold and enveloped him in a big hug. "I'm sorry, sweety. We all love you and we just wanted to help… For what it's worth, I think Helga did have a good time here today." She said and pulled him away from her to look at him.

Arnold sighed with a smile and nodded. "She did. She told me at least twice before she left. But it would have been nice to have a chance at giving her a proper goodbye and let her use the damn front door, instead of having her climb down the fire escape." He answered and scratched his head.

Phil had to snicker, but quickly stopped himself. _That girl knows this house inside and out… _He thought to himself while coughing. "Well, short man, we really are sorry. We know we went too far, but to make it seem more reasonable, all Miles and I were trying to do, was giving you a chance to tell Helga you had feelings for her."

"… Huh? You mean…" Arnold stopped talking altogether and felt heat rise in his face. "Yeah… it was only you and Helga who were thinking like that." Miles explained while his smile got wide. Arnold just closed his eyes in embarrassment and flopped down on the couch. "T… Telling her my feelings… How could I not have thought about _that_…?"

"Well, you and Helga had done the tango twice today, after waking up in the same together, and probably dancing a lot last night?" Stella asked. Arnold nodded and put his face in his hand. "Then it makes sense that your mind was in the gutter."

"… I'm sorry… I was rude. Sorry." Arnold whispered in a low voice, deeply embarrassed about having misunderstood his family's intentions. "It's all right, Kimba, if it makes you feel any better, then Miles and Phil actually high-fived when they thought you and Helga were doing the deed." Gertie admitted, ready to walk out from the room.

Arnold's head whipped right up again. "What?!" he shrieked. "Pookie!" Phil shouted. "Mom!" Miles yelled, but all the men got was a hysterical laughter from the woman as she ran out the room. "You!" Arnold said and stood up, pointing to his dad and grandpa. "You guys _were_ thinking stuff like that!"

"With the way you two were moaning in there, everyone would have thought that!" Miles exclaimed, immediately feeling embarrassed about his own words. "Dad!" Arnold shrieked and put his hands in his own hair in horror. "To be fair, short man, you and Helga are good actors. It sounded very convincing." Phil chimed in, honestly not trying to make anyone more uncomfortable, but did so anyway.

Arnold felt his arms shiver and he felt like if he was about to punch the air, but then stopped himself and instead put them up in a very clear 'stop'-sign. Without opening his eyes, he started speaking in a calm manner. "Mom… could you please bring my dinner up to me later? I'm going to be in my room for the rest of the day. I feel like my hangover just kicked in." he said and walked past them to the doorframe. "When I wake up tomorrow, then nothing of this happened, all right?"

"Understood, sweet heart." Stella answered. "Got it, short man." Phil replied. "Whatever you say, son." Miles chimed in. Arnold smiled at them in an awkward and yet thankful way. "Goodnight." He said and walked out in the hallway.

"Wait a second, Kimba." Gertie said behind him, while Arnold was on the up the stairs. He stopped and turned around to see her holding her fist out to him. "Uh… grandma?" he asked. "Hold out your hand." She explained.

Arnold folded his hand out and did as told. Gertie then let go of whatever she was holding in her hand and let it fall into his. His eyes went wide and he felt his chest pop at the sight. "Just in case." She explained very simply and walked down the stairs again.

Arnold kept staring at the small, squared object. A very unappealing thought crossed his mind, when he had to imagine his grandma actually going into a drugstore to buy something like that. He squeezed his hand around the small package in pure embarrassment. "Give me a break already!" he then yelled loudly and proceeded into his room. And as he had said: He didn't come out until next morning.

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: Yes! Gertie gave her grandson a condooooom xD Sorry, I just felt like I had to do one last embarrassing for him. The day had to have an epically ending xD This was a pure pleasure to write. Every chapter is of course, but I've never laughed this much through writing. My mom thought I was going insane O.o**

**Oh, and the reason I made Helga choose an old poem rather than writing a new one, is honestly because I can't write poetry… Not even in my own language Danish xD I might be better than an average person, but NOT by a lot. I didn't want to risk having Helga do a BAD poem to Arnold, are you insane? So I chose the poem she writes at the end of the episode called "The aptitude test".**


	21. Why is everything always so complicated?

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**To the amusement of both blondes, Helga and Arnold managed to trick his grandpa and dad into believing they got what they wanted. Even if Arnold later found out that him and Helga having sex wasn't the actual goal.**_

_**When Helga finally got home, she made a pros and cons list about which option she would choose. Read a poem to the class, or give Arnold a secret admirer poem? She ended up choosing the ladder, and copied one of her older poems to give it to Arnold the next day.**_

_**Arnold was at first angry at his family for making a stunt like that, until he realized it his and Helga's own minds that had made the wrong conclusion, and ended up apologizing. He simply went to bed after that and the boarders didn't see him until the next day. Monday. A new week, a new blackmail and a new turn of events.**_

**Author's 1st note: Yes! It's time to get all the fluff out of the way! It's been a fun run with the sappy things (which we of course all love xD) but let's get back to the blackmailing again, shall we? It shouldn't be too easy for Arnold and Helga anymore :P**

* * *

Chapter 21: "Why is everything always so complicated with you?"

Helga was definitely not a morning person. It was hard enough to get up and out of bed at regular time, but doing it a half hour earlier after that kind of weekend, then she was ready to kill someone. Thank goodness, that none of her parents were up. Miriam was snoring in the bedroom, and Bob had already left for that business trip he mentioned.

Helga was on her way out of the door. "I'm going to school!" she yelled, though she knew there would be no answer. She slammed the door behind her and walked to school in an obvious cranky way.

When she reached the school, she was surprised to see that she wasn't the only early bird. She didn't know any of those geeks, who was already at school, but them sitting with their nose stuck in their books, was a clear sign what kind of students they were. She shrugged. What did she care if they were here early?

Helga walked through the hallways, until she reached Arnold's locker. She eyed it for a second, and then looked casually around. She then walked to it, took the poem out of the pocket and shoved it in. Afterwards she walked away with long steps, turned around a corner and fell to the ground. She grabbed her head in horror. "What did I just do?!"

* * *

"Helga…? You're here awfully early."

Helga dared to look up at the familiar voice and smiled a bit, when she saw Phoebe's friendly face. "Hey there, Phoebs. How's it going?" she asked. Phoebe cocked her head to the side, feeling a little odd at having a question like that asked from Helga. "Well, I'm doing just fine, Helga, thank you… How are _you_ doing?"

Helga's face crumbled and she whimpered a bit. "Not so good…" she answered with obvious panic in her small voice. "What's going on?" Phoebe asked and sat down next to her on the ground. "Did… something bad happen?"

"Uh-huh."

"What kind of… bad?"

"'Having my secret exposed'-bad…"

"Oh, dear… but… isn't that a good thing?" Phoebe asked gently. Helga removed her face from her arms and gave a pensive look. "In a way, I guess so… I mean… I do feel like I'm getting closer to Arnold every day. It's just… old habits die hard, I guess."

Phoebe put a comforting arm over Helga's shoulders and started rubbing her arm. "It'll be all right, Helga. I am almost certain that Arnold feels the same way about you." She said reassuringly. Helga sighed happily and let her head plop down on her shoulder. "Thanks, Phoebs… I'm just… panicking again. It's in my nature."

"That's all right, Helga… but could you tell me what's going on? Also, what happened between you two after he brought you home?"

"Uh… Oh, uh…" Helga chuckled in an embarrassed way and removed her head from Phoebe's shoulder. "It's a long story, but… I'll try to make it short, ok?"

"All right."

"Ok, uh… Arnold kinda accidentally fell asleep next to me."

"What! So… no, wait, I'm sorry. Shutting up."

"So you can imagine the stroke I had, when I woke up and he was lying next to me… He even held my hand! He told me, he tried to check if my breathing was all right. You know, since I had been drinking a lot, and that he probably had moved his hand to mind during his sleep, but whatever, he still held my hand!" Helga said cheerfully.

Phoebe smiled at Helga's enthusiasm. "That must have been nice?"

"Of course it was, but that's not all! We spend most of the morning and some of the afternoon together. I was walking him home and then the boarders wanted me to join for lunch, so I did. Apparently, his grandma had made it into a Spanish theme, so she suddenly pulled me up from my chair and danced with me! Arnold caught in, swept me off my feet and… oh, Phoebe, we danced together. The tango even! He's such an amazing dancer…"

"You did the tango?" Phoebe asked in happiness. Helga nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! Twice even! Though, I prefer the first one."

"Why?"

"Well… Aaron came home and… decided to go all competitive against Arnold. Apparently, his mom has taught him the tango since before he was born or something. I guess he's technically better, but… I still prefer Arnold. You know, for obvious reasons."

"Obviously. So, what happened then?"

"Well… the three of us kinda tangoed _together._ They kept pulling me back and forth between each other. I was a little pissed, but I didn't really mind, because… oh, Phoebe! Arnold looked _so_ jealous. He _hated_ that I was dancing with Aaron. I really, truly think he might like me." Helga said with a big smile.

Phoebe was practically beaming at this point. She took Helga's hands in her own and squeezed them tight. "You mean… you think you might be ready to confess?" she asked hopefully. Helga bit at her lower lip and dared to look across the hallway at Arnold's locker. "I… _did_ give him a poem in his locker…"

"A poem?!" Phoebe repeated with big eyes. Helga nodded, while keeping on biting on her lower lip. She started getting nervous again. "Well, did you sign it?" Phoebe asked. "N-Not really…" Helga answered. "I wrote 'from your secret admirer'… I didn't have the guts to write my own name."

"Oh… well, that's a start! Maybe if you keep giving him poems, he'll realize it's you. Maybe he'll even _hope_ it's you." Phoebe encouraged, knowing all too well that Arnold indeed would wish it was Helga writing him poems.

"Oh, dear!" Helga shrieked, pulled her hands away from Phoebe's and put them on her cheeks in a mix of horror and giddiness. "I don't know what to do, Phoebs!"

"You can't do anything, Helga, just… be honest if Arnold asks if you're the one who wrote the poem. You've already taken the step. You'd better go all the way now."

"Oh, God! I wanna rip that locker open and take the poem back!" Helga said, now completely panicking and stood up. "No, Helga! You finally did something! Don't ruin it!" Phoebe begged and stood up herself. Helga was about to turn the corner, when Phoebe grabbed her around her waist. "Let go, Phoebe!"

"No! Helga! This is huge, yes! This is scary, yes! But it's something you _have _to do! You want to be in love with Arnold forever without ever knowing how _he_ feels?"

"Yes! I'd rather live my whole life, never knowing and able to believe that he might have loved me, than hearing him say that he doesn't love me back! Let me keep my illusion!"

"Whoa! Phil and Miles actually did that?!" Gerald's voice asked, booming through the hallway. Both girls froze on the spot and looked towards the voice. As expected, Gerald and Arnold were walking together towards their lockers. Phoebe pulled Helga back around the corner to hide.

"Yeah, it was the most awkward thing ever. I've never been more embarrassed in my life. Helga must think they're all completely insane." Arnold answered, laughing a little. "And how is that not true?" Gerald asked, earning an elbow to his ribs from Arnold. "Of course they are, but I don't want her to know that."

Helga was staring straight ahead, not daring even to turn to sneak a peek at Arnold and Gerald. Phoebe on the other hand, now changed positions with Helga, so that she herself could look around the corner.

Arnold and Gerald reached their lockers and opened it simultaneously. "Sounds like you had a _very_ nice day though?" Gerald asked and opened his locker. Arnold smiled. "Yeah… Helga's fun to be around." He answered and opened his own locker.

Phoebe turned to look at Helga. She had a very faint smile on her face, but the panic and fear was still very much there. She turned around to look at Arnold and Gerald again. She noticed the small piece of paper, folded neatly close to Arnold's foot. He hadn't noticed it yet.

"You dropped something, Arnold." Gerald said nonchalantly, after noticing the paper between them. "Huh?" Arnold muttered and looked down. He sat down for a second, took the paper in his hand and looked at it curiously. "This isn't mine… What is this?"

"What do you mean: 'not yours'? It was in _your_ locker. It even has your name on it." Gerald said and looked at the paper with huge interest. "Yeah, it really does… but I didn't write this." Arnold muttered and turned it around to see if someone else's name was on it. Nothing.

"Oh, God." Gerald walked in front of Arnold, gaining his attention. "You think _Helga_ send this?" he suggested. "Huh?" Arnold mumbled, already feeling his heartbeat quicken. "I can't listen to this!" Helga whispered in a panic, covered her ears and ran down the hall. "Helga!" Phoebe called, but shut her mouth immediately. _Well, Gerald can tell me about this later._ She thought to herself and followed the blonde girl.

"But… But wouldn't Helga just… you know… call or text me?" Arnold asked and eyed the paper in his hand. "_Maybe_ she's trying to play mysterious or something?" Gerald suggested with a big grin. _Maybe…_ Arnold thought with a slight smirk. "Well, open it!"

Arnold quickly unfolded the paper and read it inside his head. Gerald watched with curiosity as Arnold's eyes got bigger and bigger, and a very deep blush appeared on his cheeks. "What is it? Give me!" he said and stole the paper out of Arnold's hand.

Gerald quickly scanned the paper, not noticing how much deeper Arnold's blush got. "Oh, man! This is _definitely_ not Helga." Gerald said with a big grin and handed Arnold the paper again. "Huh? Why do you say that?" he asked and looked at the words again.

_Arnold, you idiot,  
I've always sworn it.  
I've always loved you.  
My darling, my darling.  
Kiss me, my darling.  
Oh, so shamed, my Prometheus,  
Wandering the dismal deserts of my tormented soul._

_Love, your secret admirer._

"Well, the 'idiot' part is very Helga, but that's just about it." Gerald answered and started laughing. Arnold snickered for a bit, but didn't take his eyes of the note. "You even think Helga would know about Prometheus?"

"_I_ don't even know what a Prometheus is." Arnold answered with a quirked eyebrow. "Not _a_ Prometheus. It's a person. Some Greek God, I think." Gerald answered and looked at the paper again. "This is basically a love confession… So, what are you gonna do?"

"What do you mean: 'what am I gonna do'? Nothing. This is obviously not from Helga, so I'm not interested." Arnold asked and shoved the note into his pocket. "Aren't you at all curious?" Gerald asked. "If it was you who got this note, would _you_?" Arnold asked.

"Hell yeah! I'd tell the girl I was taken, but I'd still be curious."

"I guess I am a _little_ curious…"

"See?"

"But it doesn't matter. I'm not gonna start chasing some girl, who obviously don't want me to know who she is. If she comes to me herself, then I'll listen to her, but if not… then this is it." Arnold explained, grabbed his books, closed his locker and started walking.

"Man, you're a goner for Helga, aren't you?" Gerald asked with a smirk, grabbed his own books, closed his own locker and followed him. Arnold glanced over his shoulder with a smirk. "And what a girl to be gone about."

"Man, you are _smitten_!" Gerald shouted happily and pulled Arnold under his arm. "Hey!" he exclaimed and laughed along with his best friend. "Cut it out! Let me go!" Arnold begged and snuck his way out of Gerald's grip. They laughed for a bit, while Arnold tried to brush his hair with his fingers.

"Don't you have any clues to who the girl must be though?" Gerald asked. Arnold shrugged. "Not really… Though, now that you're mentioning it…" he answered thoughtfully and cocked his head to the side.

"Who?" Gerald asked. "… Remember that little pink book we found in fourth grade with poems about me in it?" Arnold asked. "Of course! That was insane! That chick must have been… Wait. You think it's the same girl?" Gerald asked. Arnold rocked his head from side to side, as if saying 'it's possible'. "It _does_ sound like the same style, right?"

"Yeah, the same kind of crazy." Gerald answered and snickered. Arnold punched his arm lightly. "Why is a girl crazy for liking me?" he asked. "Oh, she's not crazy for liking you. She's crazy for telling you through a poem. You think she sits in her room all day, writing poems about whatever you do?" Gerald asked. "I doubt that." Arnold answered with a smile.

"Hey… where's Aaron anyway?" Gerald asked, suddenly remembering him _not_ walking with Arnold that morning. "Oh! Uh…" Arnold muttered and started scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "He mentioned something about getting here earlier or something… He's been acting a little off since yesterday."

Gerald snorted. "Maybe he's sulking because Helga's obviously interested in _you_ and not him?" He suggested with a big smirk. Arnold didn't seem to find it funny though. "Don't tell me you're starting to feel bad for him?" he asked.

"Well… He _is_ my cousin, Gerald, and I still don't know why or how he's interested in her. He seems really… distant."

"You gotta stop worrying about everyone else. Hey, it's not like it's your fault Helga's not interested, right? Who says she would be, even if you weren't here?"

"I guess that's true… I just wish I knew what they talked about. They're being so secretive together sometimes."

"Still? Maybe he's just trying to hit on her, while you're not around?" Gerald suggested thoughtfully. "That could be it…" Arnold answered with a frown and walked into the classroom.

"Calm down, Helga, it'll be fine." The boys heard Phoebe's voice say. They turned to look, and noticed her and Helga sitting next to each other. Helga was wearing a distressed look, but what really made Arnold worry, was that she refused to look at him.

"'Morning, girls." Gerald greeted and sat down at his seat in the back. "Good morning." Phoebe answered and glanced at Helga. She was taking a deep breath, put on her best smile and looked at Gerald. "'Morning, tall hair boy."

Gerald just rolled his eyes goodheartedly. "Good morning, Phoebe. Good morning, Helga." Arnold said, obviously talking mostly to Helga. She took a deep breath again and turned around, still wearing the toothpaste smile. "Good morning." She answered very simply.

Arnold started walking to his seat behind Helga, while he eyed her a little. _Well, she's definitely acting funny. Could it be about yesterday? Maybe she felt more awkward about it than she let on… Or…_ he sat down and looked at his pocket, which contained the poem. _Could Helga be the one who wrote this?_

Arnold duck his hand into his pocket and retrieved the small folded paper. He started reading it. _It doesn't sound like Helga… Then again, I've never read anything written by her. Could this be the kinda thing she writes in those notebooks of hers…?_

"What do you have there, Arnold?" Phoebe asked. Helga felt like smacking her silly at the question. She didn't dare to turn around and look at Arnold's facial expression. He smirked a bit. "Someone left a note for me in my locker." He answered, studying Helga's reaction the best he could.

Helga felt the panic flow through her, and she started shivering a little. She felt something clicking inside her head, and all of a sudden, she knew how her reaction to this would be. She turned around with a cocked eyebrow. "A note? What kinda _note_?"

"Some sort of love poem." Arnold answered carefully, making sure to observe Helga's face. Her face went surprised. "Who would send _you_ a love note?" she asked in incredulity. Phoebe felt like sighing and rolling her eyes. _Terrific. She's so scared of his reaction, that she's reversed back to the old Helga._

"Well, it's not signed, so I don't know." Arnold answered with a small frown. _How come I feel nostalgic in a bad way? The way she's looking at me… It's like she's mocking me._ He thought. "What? Give me that!" Helga ordered and stole the note from his hand.

Arnold watched her, as she read it through. She started laughing maliciously. "Oh, my God, this is horrible! Who wrote this? Gerald's little sister Timberly?" she asked and threw it casually back at Arnold, who caught it in slight panic. He scowled deeply.

"Throw it out." Helga ordered in an indifferent voice. Arnold's eyes went wide. "What?" he said in shock. "Did I _stutter_, bucko?" Helga asked. "This poem is pathetic! The person who wrote this, is obviously either a child or insane."

"How is this person insane?"

"Hello! Earth to football headed boy! She wrote you a _poem_! Who does that? Especially to _you_."

That one hurt. To know that Helga thought it was impossible for Arnold to have a girl liking him enough even to write him a poem really _hurt_. He gritted his teeth and stood up. "You know what? You're right." He said and walked over to the garbage bin, as he crumbled the poem in his hand. "This girl didn't even have the guts to put her name on it, so why should I even bother with her? It _does_ belong in the garbage."

Helga watched with an uncomfortable beat in her heart, as Arnold threw the poem she wrote about and gave to him in the trashcan. He sauntered right back after that and sat down behind her in his seat. She felt like throwing up, crying and passing out all at the same time. She knew it was her own fault for talking about the poem like that, but he didn't even _try_ to argument against her.

Then the bell rang, and some students already walked in. Phoebe gave a sigh, before she left Helga to sit at her desk next to Gerald. He leaned towards her, as the swarm of students came in. "_Did_ Helga write that poem?" he asked.

Phoebe hesitated, but then sighed again and nodded. "Man! Why did she talk like that then?" Gerald asked with a serious frown. She shrugged. "She went right back to her bully state. She panicked." She answered.

"Well, yeah, obviously, but Arnold had seriously hoped the poem was from her. He even said that he wasn't even curious about it, if it wasn't Helga who wrote it."

"Really?"

"Yeah!"

"Oh, no… Ok, this time we can't just leave them be. We have to try and talk to them, but in what way?"

"Well… I could try and convince Arnold that Helga reacted like that due to jealousy?" Gerald suggested. Phoebe nodded. "Yeah… Yeah, that seems plausible. Especially with Helga… but what do I tell _her_?" she asked.

"That you think Arnold reacted like that, because he got disappointed that it wasn't her who wrote it! Which is true, so you won't be lying." Gerald answered before leaning back into his seat. "Man, this whole love thing between those two is _so_ complicated."

"They're both scared for their own reasons."

"It's ridiculous."

"They're a dangerous combination, Gerald." Phoebe said seriously. Gerald cocked an eyebrow and looked at his girlfriend. "Dangerous…? What do you mean?" he asked. She took a deep breath and looked back at him. "Look at it this way. Helga's only been accepted very few times in her life, while not experiencing love from the people who should love her the most, ergo: She's scared out of her mind that the one guy she's actually opened her heart to will hurt her."

"Seems reasonable… but what about Arnold?"

"I'm not too sure about him… Only that he's so willing to love her, that it might even scare him a little. She's hinting at him that she loves him, but he doesn't see the signs, because he's also scared. Think about it: Falling in love with that one person who's always treated you as if you were the last person on earth they'd ever be with? How can that not be scary? Besides, like Helga, Arnold also missed love from his parents as a child. He had his grandparents, but it's not really the same. He probably wouldn't admit it ever, but he must have felt like they just left him back then and didn't care about him at all."

Gerald took in all of Phoebe's words and then sighed heavily. "You're right; they _are_ a dangerous combination. Two people, both too scared of rejection to believe in their own love for each other." He muttered.

Phoebe cocked an eyebrow. "That was very deep, Gerald." She observed with a small smirk. Gerald turned to look at her with narrowed eyes. "_Must_ you sound so surprised?" he asked, which earned an adorable giggle from his girlfriend.

* * *

When the first class was over and it was time for recess, both blonde teens wanted to get as far away from each other as possible. That's also why Arnold stayed put in his seat, when Helga practically jumped out of the room. He groaned at the back of his throat, when he noticed Aaron following her.

Helga noticed Aaron immediately, but that didn't exactly make her slow her pace. "Helga, I need to talk to you." He said while doing his best to follow her. "I did as you told me, so leave me alone." She answered. "You did? Which one?" he asked. "The second one." She answered briefly and turned a corner.

Aaron stopped dead in his tracks for a second. "What! Really? Then… Hey!" he called and followed Helga again, this time walking next to her. "Then what is up with you?" he asked her in something that sounded like concern.

"What is up with me?!" Helga repeated and stopped to scowl at Aaron. "What _is up with me_ is that Arnold threw out my poem!"

"What?! But… no, you must have misheard - "

"I _saw_ him do it! Now, leave me alone!" Helga interrupted and started sprinting down the hallway. Aaron looked at her in complete and utter shock. "Threw her poem _out_? Why would he do that?" he wondered aloud, but then it hit him. _The idiot didn't sign it…_

Aaron turned back on his heels and ran back to the classroom, just in time to see Arnold and Gerald walk outside, Arnold wearing a scowl, which matched Helga's. "Arnold!" he called and ran up to them. They turned their heads, and Arnold's scowl only got deeper. "Oh, _now_ you're talking? What's up?"

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Aaron asked, a little out of breath from running around like this. Arnold cocked an eyebrow. "Why? About what? I'm not really in the mood for chit-chat." He answered.

"It's about Helga." Aaron explained with a serious expression. Arnold growled, but let out a sigh right after. "What about her?" he asked. Aaron opened his mouth to speak, but then glanced at Gerald. "Uh… could I talk with you in private?"

Gerald's eyebrows lifted and he turned to look at Arnold, who seemed pensive for a second. "I'll meet you outside." He then said. "You sure, man?" Gerald asked. Arnold smiled and nodded. "Well, all right. You'd better not be planning to pull any tricks on my man." Gerald warned Aaron before he left.

"So? What is it about Helga?" Arnold asked without looking at Aaron. "… Why is she mad at you?" Aaron asked bluntly. Arnold's eyes went wide. "What? _She's_ mad at _me_?" he repeated but then rolled his eyes. "Of course, she's mad at me. That shouldn't even surprise me. She's always been mad at me for one stupid reason or another."

Aaron frowned at Arnold's out-of-character anger. "She… mentioned something about a poem?" he asked carefully. Arnold gritted his teeth. "Oh, she told you about that, huh? Yeah, a girl left me a love poem in my locker, and Helga… made fun of it."

"What? 'Made fun of it'? How?"

"Saying it was pathetic, that it sounded like it was written by Gerald's little sister and… something about 'why would anyone give _you_ a poem?'" Arnold answered and felt the anger and hurt boil inside him.

Aaron lifted his hand and put it against his forehead. _That idiot…_ he thought and gave a sigh. He pulled his hand away from his face. "And what then?" he asked. "Simple: I threw it out." Arnold answered.

"You threw it out?!"

"Yeah!"

"But… what would you gain from doing that?"

"There was nothing to gain _from_ the poem to begin with! It was obviously not written by Helga, so I don't really care who wrote it." Arnold answered and felt only a tint of compassion towards the girl, who liked him enough to write to him like that. He simply didn't have it in him right now to feel more sad for her.

Aaron's mouth went wide open at Arnold's words, and he stared at him for a couple of seconds before his lips become to very thin lines. He growled in frustration and looked away. "You guys are _so_ thickheaded, it almost hurts…" he muttered and turned around to walk away.

"Why do people keep saying that?!" Arnold asked in frustration. Aaron turned around, now walking backwards. "Because you are the most dense, thickheaded football headed kid, I have _ever_ met!" he answered and turned around.

"I'm the _only_ football headed kid you've ever met!" Arnold yelled back in a childish attempt to get back at him. "Where are you going anyway? To talk with Helga or something?"

"Something like that, yeah!" Aaron answered and stopped near the corner. "And if it bothers you that much, then try to fucking interfere for once! _Do_ something!" with those words, he turned the corner and ran.

"No way! Go and talk to Helga all you want. I don't care anymore!" Arnold yelled in frustration and turned around. Out of anger, he kicked at one of the lockers to his side, earning a little pain his foot but not enough even to show it on the outside._ I don't understand that girl… I never have and I never will._

When Arnold got outside, Gerald grabbed his shoulder almost immediately and pulled him up against the wall. "Ow! What the Hell?!" Arnold shouted and pushed Gerald's hand off him instantly. "I am _not_ in the mood to listen to any preaching."

"Yeah? Too bad. You're gonna get one anyway. Let me ask you something. Why do you think Helga got so pissed at you receiving a poem?"

"I don't know! Why does Helga get pissed about _anything_?"

"_Think_ for a second! If it had been the other way around, then what would _you_ have felt?" Gerald asked. Arnold finally calmed down. He managed to think about it for a second. He closed his eyes, imagining the scenario Gerald professed. He frowned deeply. "I'd be jealous. So very, very jealous."

"See?" Gerald said, as if the answer then should be clear. Arnold's frown just turned confused. "What do you mean 'see'?" he asked. Gerald rolled his eyes dramatically. "It's no wonder you're not getting anywhere with Helga, you're too damn dense!"

Arnold scowled. "Hey! I said that I am _not_ in the mood to - "

"Helga's jealous, you damn idiot!" Gerald interrupted. Arnold's head whipped back and his eyes got big. Then he sighed and shook his head. "No way." he answered. "Oh? And why are you so sure about that?" Gerald asked with an eyebrow quirked.

"Because she's Helga Pataki! She wouldn't get jealous about something like that. I can barely imagine her being envious of anyone."

"… Arnold… we agree that Helga's insecure, right?"

"Well - "

"You say it yourself all the time: She's hiding herself. That means she's insecure. Girls like that get easily jealous. Besides, with her temper, don't you think she'd almost try and find this girl and punch her to death?"

Arnold gulped at the thought and felt a tinge of happiness. "Ok… so maybe Helga being jealous might not be impossible, but… then why is she mad at me _now_?"

"Is she?"

"Aaron just told me. I don't get it. I threw the poem out! I even said I wasn't interested in a girl who didn't even have the guts to put her name on it. If Helga was jealous, then shouldn't she have been happy about that?" Arnold asked.

Gerald tried very hard to keep his sigh in. _Man, how do I twist this one…? Knowing Helga actually wrote that poem herself… that comment must have hurt a lot, but it doesn't make sense if she didn't write it, so…_ "I'm just guessing here… but maybe it could be because you said 'didn't have the guts', you know?"

"I'm not following."

"Think about it. If Helga likes you too and if maybe she has even liked you for as long as you have liked her… then technically she doesn't even have the guts to send you a _secret_ love poem. Maybe she felt like it was a shot at her somehow?"

Arnold had been on a rollercoaster ride, as Gerald had talked. Firstly he experienced happiness at the mere thought of Helga actually liking him for that long, maybe even being in love with him. Then sadness, hurt and anger at himself. He hadn't thought that she would've seen his reaction to that poem like that.

Arnold lifted his hand and rubbed it against his forehead. "Great… Aaron's right: I really _am_ thickheaded. This must have been what he meant." He muttered. "If even the guy who is _also_ after Helga sees it like this, then there's _no way_ I can be wrong." Gerald answered, for once happy that Aaron was involved.

"I'm gonna go talk to her!" Arnold announced. "Huh? Uh, hold on!" Gerald exclaimed and grabbed his shoulder. Arnold turned to look at him over his shoulder. "What?" he asked. "Well… wh-what are you gonna say?" Gerald asked.

"Huh? Oh, I, uh… I don't know."

"See? You act before you think." Gerald declared and turned Arnold around, so he would face him. "Listen. Right now Helga is probably really mad at you. Give her some time to cool down first. Besides, what are you gonna say? 'Sorry, that I threw out that poem _another_ girl gave me'? Yeah, she'd probably misunderstand that."

"Then what _am_ I supposed to say?!" Arnold asked in pure frustration. "Calm down!" Gerald patted Arnold's shoulder. "That's what you'll think about 'till lunch, ok?" he suggested. Arnold took a deep breath to collect himself a nodded. "Yeah. Thanks, Gerald… I hope you're right about the jealousy thing."

"I'm pretty sure that I am." Gerald answered with a confident smirk. Arnold's smile was big, but then sighed heavily. _How did it turn out like this…? Why is everything always so complicated with you, Helga?_

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: Hey! It can't be all fluff and happiness now, can it? Yeah, Arnold and Helga are good at misunderstanding each other, that's why they're this horribly complicated couple, and that's why we love them xD**


	22. I am so disappointed in you

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**Helga got hit by one of her more extreme panic attacks, when Aaron forced her to deliver one of her poems to Arnold. She didn't write her name on it, but the chances of him figuring it out were too high for her to handle. That's why she reversed right back to the only self-defense technique she knew: Anger.**_

_**Feeling hurt by Helga's words about not being worth a love poem, Arnold threw the poem down in the trash. She blamed herself, but also felt horrible knowing that the poem didn't mean enough for him to fight for it.**_

_**Aaron felt like bumping both Helga and Arnold's heads together when he heard how his blackmailing mission had turned out. No matter how much fun he'd figured he'd have with blackmailing her, he'd never meant for it to turn out like this. That was also why he went after her, after hearing Arnold's version of the story.**_

**Author's 1st note: Now, ain't this a surprise? Two chapters in one day xD Usually, if I finish a chapter this early, I don't upload it until next day… I kinda feel like if I do that, then it wouldn't be as… uh… "steady"? Sorry, can't think of a proper word, anyone got any ideas? xD Anyways, finished this early, decided to upload it (figured people wouldn't mind that – but don't get used to it! xD) Warning! Drama develops! OwO**

**Since I uploaded two in one day, then please don't expect chapter 23 until Thursday. That one's taking slightly longer :3**

* * *

Chapter 22: "I am _so_ disappointed in you"

"Helga!" Aaron yelled. "Hey," he said and put a hand on a random student's shoulder. "have you seen Helga Pataki? Blonde girl with pigtails?" he asked. "I _know_ who Helga is, everyone does. She ran through the hallway, pushing everyone who stood in her way." The student answered and walked off.

Aaron ran through the hallway and looked around. He finally found Helga on her way into the girls' bathroom. "Helga!" he yelled, just before she got in. She stopped dead in her tracks and turned to look at him. She scowled. "I do _not_ want to talk to you!"

"Well, I want to talk with you!" Aaron answered and walked towards Helga. "Too bad!" she answered and went inside the girls' bathroom. "Like Hell if that'll stop me." He muttered and walked inside. She whipped her entire body around in shock. "Are you insane?! Get the fuck out!"

"Not until you agree to talk with me. Arnold just told me his side of the story. Are you a _moron_? Talking about your own poem like that! How about giving the guy a chance to figure out it was _you_ first?"

"I don't _want_ him to figure out it was me! Now, get the Hell out of her!" Helga shouted and pushed Aaron roughly. When he was out, she closed the door and held the doorknob tight in her hands. "Helga!" he yelled and tried forcing the door open, but he figured she was even using her foot to hold it closed. "When you're done in there, then can we please talk? Seriously."

"… Go away." Helga answered and let go off the door. For a second, she was sure Aaron would just barge in again, but he didn't. "If you won't talk to me voluntarily, then I have no choice but to force you." He said in a voice that indicated, that he wasn't proud of it.

Helga swung the door open with a bang. "You've got a _lot_ of nerve to use blackmail _now_." She said with a low growl. "Yeah, and I'm not proud of it, but I _need_ you to listen to me." Aaron answered. "Fine. Talk." She said. "Uh… f-finish your business first. I'll just wait." He suggested and started leaning on the wall next to them.

"I don't have any business to take care of! I went in there to get the Hell away from everyone, so I wouldn't bitch slap the entire school," Helga answered and slammed the door roughly behind her. "so be careful what you say!"

Aaron gulped a bit and then took a deep breath. "Ok, first of all… I… did _not_ think that Arnold wouldn't realize that poem was written by you. I didn't think he was that dense, but then I realized that you didn't sign it! Why the Hell not?"

"Why _not_?! I didn't want Arnold to know, that's why not, you fucking idiot!"

"Why? Why are you _this_ scared? I don't understand!"

"Because… Because that's none of your business!"

"Tell me!"

"Hell no!"

"Helga…" Aaron said with a voice and a look, which Helga already knew far too well. Her eyes narrowed and she gritted her teeth. "You are _such_ a low human being." She growled. "Takes one to know one, Helga. Now, tell me why you are so scared?"

Helga's breath was hitching and she was looking around, almost as if she didn't know the answer herself. She pulled a hand through her hair, wiping a few strands away from her face. Aaron kept looking at her, while she seemed to be gasping for air. Then she finally spoke, or rather she shouted. "Because I don't deserve him!"

Helga's answer caught Aaron by surprise, and his eyes went wide. Her breath seemed to slowly calm down and she sighed a bit, making sure not to look at him. "Can we talk somewhere else?" she asked and sniffed a bit. "Sure." He answered, grabbed Helga's shoulder and started walking with her.

Not too long after, Helga and Aaron stopped at the end of the hallway, knowing that no one would be using the classroom next to them. "Ok… please enlighten me. You say you don't deserve him?" Aaron asked. Helga nodded without looking at him. She was staring at the tiles beneath her.

Aaron sighed. "I'm guessing that you're saying that… because you haven't been the nicest girl to him through the years?"

"Nice detective work, bucko. Can I go now?"

"No. We're gonna talk until the bell rings."

"Oh, brother. Look, why do you even care?"

"That doesn't matter right now! Ok, so, you're no saint. Big deal."

"No saint? That's a huge understatement."

"Maybe, but that doesn't change the fact that you're not that girl anymore. I've seen you around him. You're sweet, funny, honest - "

"I'm not honest… I lie to him all the time. I hide myself from everyone around me, even the most trustworthy boy in the whole world, the boy I'm in love with. I snapped, when he started talking about that poem… It wasn't even a new one, but it still felt like I gave him a piece of my heart, and he… threw it away."

"Because you told him to. Why did you do that?"

Helga shrugged. "I'm not sure… Phoebe says I tend to ruin things for myself."

"Sounds about right. Did Arnold seem unhappy with the poem or anything?"

"… I didn't notice."

"Then why did you - "

"Look! I…" Helga stopped herself and sighed, finally looking up at Aaron. His eyes went wide. Her blue eyes were moist and were sparkling with the tears pressing on. "I don't know why I talked like that… Phoebe says I tend to involuntarily ruin things for myself, so… m-maybe my subconscious wanted to test Arnold or something. I don't know! I… I just know that… if there was any part of Arnold who hoped or believed that the poem was from me… then him throwing it out was a pretty clear answer… Happy?"

_Not one bit._ Aaron answered inside his head and sighed. "So, what, you're just gonna give up because of one minor setback?" he asked. Helga whipped her head around in shock. "One _minor_ setback? You have _any_ idea what kind of courage it takes for a _normal_ girl to give her heart away like that? Imagine how _I_ must feel!"

"You still don't know how he feels!"

"I _do_ know! I've always known… Arnold cares for me, like Phoebe cares for me. He feels bad for me, he insists that he sees something in me that no one else does, but if that's true, then how come he hasn't realized the most obvious thing in me?"

"He's… He's dense." Aaron answered, honestly trying to help. Helga banged her head up against the locker behind her and shut her eyes tight to stop the tears threatening to run down her cheeks. "There's dense, and there's denial. Arnold doesn't want me to love him. He never has…"

"How do you know that?"

"… There's one story, I never told you back at Mighty Pete."

"… And what's that?"

"To… To make a long story short… I actually _did_ once tell Arnold, that I loved him." Helga admitted and chuckled at the bittersweet memory. Aaron's eyes went wide. "You did? But… then how come you didn't - "

"He… looked _so_ freaked out. Almost scared of me… He didn't know how to act around me, what to say, what to do… Then he asked if I… really meant it? Or rather… 'You didn't really mean all that, did you? You don't really _love_ me, right?' Those words hurt so much, because it just made me realize that he had never thought about me that way at all… You know… when he suggested that it all was just in the heat of the moment… I was _so sure_ that he did it to help _me_, and that made me feel a little happy…" Helga said with a tense smile.

Aaron felt his heart twinge a little at seeing Helga being so melancholic. She chuckled with a slight gasp. "But as I got older… I realized he wasn't helping _me_… He was helping himself. It was the perfect way to get out of having to hurt me, because that's something Arnold can't do… I'm not even sure if he believed me for even a second, or if he wished so desperately that I didn't feel that way about him…"

Helga leaned forward and gasped for air. Aaron heard her breath hitch in her throat a couple of times, before it went permanently unsteady. He just kept looking at her, while she straightened her back a little, her head still tilted forwards, hiding her face behind her lose pigtails.

* * *

"You sure I shouldn't talk to her _now_?" Arnold asked Gerald nervously, while they walked through the hallway. "I'm sure. Give her some time to think, to calm down and _then_ talk to her." Gerald answered, secretly praying that Phoebe could find Helga already and talk with her, before Arnold lost his mind.

"I just don't like it. I want to set things straight as fast as possible."

"You won't be able to set things straight, if you do it while she's angry."

"You say that, but - " Arnold stopped walking, when he noticed something odd to his right side. He and Gerald had been just about to pass a crossing hallway where no students were supposed to be, since the only classroom at that end was Biology and it was closed off at the moment. Some kid had managed to wreck it completely.

Yet Arnold saw movement at the far end of it, and when he narrowed his eyes a bit, he recognized a certain blonde girl with a certain mulatto guy. "Hey… is that Aaron and Helga?" he asked, hoping it was his own eyes playing tricks on him. "Hmm?" Gerald mumbled and looked in the same direction. "Uh… yeah, that looks like them."

"… What could they be talking about?" Arnold asked nervously, making sure to keep his eyes at Helga and Aaron's every movement. "He's… He's probably just bothering her, you know? Trying to take advantage of the fact that she's pissed at you." Gerald answered, but feeling rather unsure, given the fact that Aaron was just looking at Helga, while she looked at the ground.

Arnold frowned. He didn't like it. He was too far away to see their facial expressions and if they were talking or not. "Come on, Arnold, let's go." Gerald said and tried pulling at Arnold. He followed him for a few steps, until he saw Aaron lifting his hand.

Arnold stopped at the corner immediately and stepped to the side, so only part of his head was visible. "Come on, Arnold, this is ridiculous." Gerald tried, starting to feel that if Arnold stayed here, he would see something uncomfortable.

Arnold watched, as Aaron slowly lifted his hand. He hesitated. Badly. _What am I… doing?_ He wondered in his head, as he felt his hand land gently on top of Helga's head. At first, she didn't react, except for simply standing completely still. Then she turned her head just a bit to gawk at him. "Wha… What is with this awkward pat on the head?"

"I… I'm not… sure." Aaron answered, as he patted Helga's head just a bit. He caressed her head, as if she was a cat. She kept gaping at him, not moving an inch. _What the heck is going on…? This is the first time anyone has ever patted my head. What a weird thing to do. Is he trying to comfort me or… something? Wait. Seriously, is he?_

Arnold felt his heart break a little. "Why isn't she pushing his hand away?" he asked, as if Gerald was in any state of answering. He was in more shock than Arnold was, because Arnold felt more sadness than surprise. _What the Hell, Pataki! What are you doing? I thought you hated Aaron's guts!_

Then Helga did something, which surprised all three boys: She chuckled, and she kept chuckling. Aaron kept his hand on her head as he ogled at her. "What the Hell! What kinda person tries to comfort someone by patting their head?" she asked, loudly enough for Arnold and Gerald to hear.

Helga's chuckle erupted into laughter, and Aaron was forced to let go off her head, because she was bending forward while holding her stomach with laughter. He felt himself blush a little bit and started scratching the back of his head. "Well, it worked, didn't it?" he asked embarrassed.

Helga straightened her back, as she kept laughing. She nodded. "Yeah, it did. That's probably weirdest thing I have _ever_ experienced. What the Hell!" she answered with a shriek and kept laughing.

Aaron glanced at Helga, still feeling rather embarrassed at his odd reaction to her sadness. _Comfort her…? Was that what I was trying to do…?_ He wondered, before he snickered a bit. She heard it and turned to look at him, still chuckling a bit herself. When he started chuckling though, she erupted into laughter again. This time laughing with him.

Arnold shut his eyes tight and ran down the hallway. "Arnold!" Gerald called and was about to run after him, but then stopped to think. _Should I stay so I can tell him, what Helga and Aaron will talk about after this…?_ He wondered, but quickly threw that thought away, when he noticed Arnold falling next to a locker. _Shit!_ He thought before running towards him.

When Helga finally felt like she could talk, without having to stutter all the way through it, she let the back of her head rest against the locker behind her. She glanced at Aaron with a small smile. "Thank you." She said in a low voice.

Aaron felt his heart stop for a second, but then just smiled back at Helga. "You're welcome. Glad I could help, since this is technically my fault." He answered. She cocked an eyebrow. "_Technically_?" she repeated.

"Fine. It's entirely my fault. You being too damn scared about admitting your feelings to him had nothing to do with it." Aaron corrected and gave her a skeptical look. Helga looked away with a small frown, looked back at him and sighed. "Touché."

"So… does Helga Pataki have a plan?"

"… She's… thinking. For now, it might be a pretty valid guess to say she'll just leave Arnold alone."

"So she's being a coward?"

"She's being realistic."

"Helga - "

"No." Helga interrupted and removed herself from the locker. "I need time to think… Besides, why do you care this much anyway?" she asked. "Hey, I'm not the Devil himself. I _am_ capable of feeling sorry for someone." He answered. She gave a dramatic gasp and held her hand to her heart. "You _are_? Sure fooled me!" she answered with a slight smirk and started walking, as the bell rang.

"I think you'll be fine, Helga Pataki." Aaron said and followed Helga. "Oh, and why do you think that?" she asked with a sad frown. "I don't think so, I _know_ so. Wanna know why?" he asked. "I just asked you that, you buffoon!" she said. "Because Helga Pataki is a strong girl, who stands on her own two feet and don't give up so easily." He answered.

Helga's eyes went wide and she felt her heart tug a little. That was the first time another boy besides Arnold had praised her. "Uh, thanks… I guess, but… how can you be so sure about that? You've only known me for, what, twelve days?" she asked. "Oh, please," Aaron answered and patted her head again, mostly to mock the situation from before. "I knew from day _one_ what kind of girl you were."

Helga swatted Aaron's hand away with a small smile. "Yeah, because you overheard me talking about Arnold." She answered. "_That_… and that you actually used the words 'cut my tongue out and wrap it around my neck'." He explained. "I swear, if I hadn't just heard you talk like someone from a Shakespeare play, I would've been scared of you."

"Well, that just proves my point: Everyone would start treating me differently, if they found out about my feelings for Arnold." Helga muttered under her breath, but Aaron heard it anyway. "So? Maybe that'd be a good thing." He pointed out with a shrug. "I'm… not ready for that." she explained and went inside the classroom. He sighed a bit at her reply, but then followed her inside.

* * *

When the class started, Helga of course noticed the absence of Arnold instantly. She looked around to make sure that he wasn't just seated somewhere today, but there was not just one, but _two_ empty seats. She glanced over at Phoebe, who noticed her eyes a few seconds after. Helga tilted her head towards the empty seats. Phoebe looked in the same direction and frowned. She looked back at Helga and shrugged. _Fantastic. Not even Phoebe knows where the Hell they went…_

"Excuse me, teacher?" one of the students, whose name Helga had never tried to remember, asked carefully while putting her hand up in the air. "Yes?" the English teacher answered and turned around. "Out of curiosity… have you any idea where Gerald and Arnold have gone? I saw them earlier today, and now they're both missing. They don't usually skip class, so I'm a little worried." The girl answered.

Helga frowned. _The Hell…? Why is she worried about Arnold missing? And Gerald, for that matter, but still!_ She thought to herself, but all her angry thoughts disappeared in an instant as the teacher answered. "Oh, yes, a student was sent from the nurse with a note. Arnold fell during the recess and Gerald took him to the nurse's office."

"What?!" Helga shrieked and stood up from her seat, earning everyone's attention. "Helga, please sit down." The teacher asked, but she didn't listen. "Is he all right? What happened?" she asked in a frenzy.

"Arnold simply fell and bumped his head on a locker. He'll be just fine. He should even be back in a few minutes. He's simply having his head examined just in case. Now, please sit." The teacher answered with a stern look.

Helga sighed, sat down and kicked at the empty chair in front of her desk. "Stupid football head, it's because your head is so ridiculously wide. Who else bumps their head on a locker?" she muttered in annoyance. The people around her laughed at her comment, though she just gave them a harsh look and then they went quiet.

_Great. Now I can't focus, because I'm worried about Arnold. What is wrong with me? This boy took over my life by the age of three and hasn't let go ever since… I'm gonna love him for the rest of my life, aren't I…?_ she thought sadly and let her head down on her palm. _This… fucking… one-sided love._

Only a few minutes later, as the teacher had predicted, Gerald and Arnold came inside the room. "Oh, there you two are. We were quite worried about you, Arnold." The teacher said with a smile. Gerald and Arnold walked inside and when Helga saw Arnold, she gasped.

Arnold's head was wrapped in a white bandage, covering his entire forehead, right above his eyebrows. It wasn't a major injury, but Helga still felt her heart sink at seeing him in such a state. It was nothing compared to how she had seen him from time to time in San Lorenzo, but back then, it had almost broken her heart.

Arnold heard Helga's gasp and turned to look at her. When green eyes met blue ones, the air became thick with tension. The former events soared through between them in unison, and Arnold's face fell a little. Not a lot though, because he couldn't help but noticing the very worried look on her face. _Is she really that worried about me…? Truthfully?_ He wondered with hope in his mind.

"Are you gonna be all right?" the teacher asked, interrupting the two blonde teens' moment. Arnold kept looking at Helga. He couldn't tear her eyes off hers, because they were big like a deer's, obviously hoping for a positive answer from him.

"Uh, yeah. I'm gonna be just fine. I don't even have a concussion." Arnold answered, briefly glancing at the teacher. When he turned back to look at Helga, she had her eyes closed and was taking a deep breath. She let out a sigh in relief, still refusing to open her eyes. _Thank God… Thank God._ She thought and smiled a little.

Helga's relieved reaction didn't go unnoticed to Arnold, and he had to smile dazedly at her. _She was really that worried about me…? It's really just a bump. Is she a closet worrywart?_ He thought with a small chuckle.

"Glad to hear that, Arnold. Please sit down, you two. We need to continue the lesson." The teacher pointed out and turned around to face the board again. "Yes, ma'am." Gerald answered and went straight to his seat.

Arnold also started walking towards his seat, which was behind Helga. When he got closer to her, he remembered that heartbreaking image of her head being caressed by none other than Aaron. She still had her eyes closed, but then she felt a strange force on the top of her skull.

Helga opened her eyes, feeling Arnold's hand brush over her head in a small caress, before it disappeared, gliding down the back of her head. _Did… Did Arnold just…_ she didn't get to finish her thought, before her ears started ringing with the sound of her heartbeat. She could still feel the place, he had touched a few moments ago. She wanted to touch the spot, but decided against it, since she wasn't exactly alone.

Helga wanted so desperately to turn around and look at Arnold for any sort of confirmation, explanation, even just a clue. She didn't get to, because when her chin reached her shoulder, she chickened out.

Arnold watched Helga, as she stayed put with her neck crooked like that. He knew, she wanted to look at him for one reason or another. He wanted to know why, but when she finally turned her head to look forward again, he simply sighed a little and decided to ask her later during lunch. That was also when he'd apologize and explain.

* * *

As soon as the bell rang, declaring the lunch period, Arnold stood up from his seat. Helga stood up at the same time, and he put his hand on her shoulder. He felt her whole body tense under his hand, but he simply took a deep breath. "Can I talk with you?" he asked.

"… W-We have lunch period." Helga said in a pathetic attempt at getting out of talking with Arnold. She still felt hurt and angry about the events this very morning, and she wasn't ready to look him in the eyes again.

"Yeah, but can't we talk during that?" Arnold asked, frowning a bit in sadness. _Please, Helga. I just want to explain._ He thought in his head, and was about to say those thoughts out loud, when he felt her shake his hand off. "I'm eating out today." She explained and then ran outside.

"Helga!" Arnold called and took one step, but then hesitated. _Should I wait until after school? Why won't she talk to me? She should let me explain! I… I…_ his thoughts started to distract him from the task, when he felt a hand push him forward.

Arnold only stumbled for a second, before he started running after Helga. _Thanks, Gerald!_ He thought gratefully, thinking Gerald had been the one to give him the final push. "What the Hell are you doing?" Gerald asked the one, who had actually pushed Arnold.

Aaron turned around with an indifferent look. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Why did you push Arnold to go after Helga? Isn't those two fighting a good thing to you?" Gerald asked. "Hey, don't misunderstand." Aaron said and walked to the door to walk out with the other students, but he turned his head over his shoulder to look back at him. "I'm not helping Arnold, I'm helping _Helga_."

Gerald's eyes went big. "Why?" he asked. Aaron smirked and shrugged. "I guess I'm… compensating." He answered and walked out in the middle of the swam of other students. _The Hell…?_ Gerald thought in his head, but just shook it in confusion.

"Helga!" Arnold called outside in the hallway, seeing her walking away in a fast pace. "Hey, please slow down. I may not have a concussion, but I'm still a little dizzy." He said in an attempt at lightning the mood. It didn't work, but Helga did slow down her pace without thinking about it. "Then don't follow me. I… I need to get to the place I want my lunch on time, or else they'll be closed."

"Can I walk with you? I'm not really hungry, so I don't need to go to the cafeteria anyway."

"No thanks. I need to be alone right now."

"Why?"

"Because I just do, ok?!" Helga shouted and turned a corner. Arnold stopped for a second, again questioning whether he should push her any further at the moment. Then he remembered the push at his back and ran to catch up with her again. "I know why you're angry at me!"

Helga stopped dead in her tracks and felt like she had just been zapped with a freezing-gun. She could feel Arnold's presence right behind her. "You… You do?" she asked carefully. He walked around her and looked at her with a small smile. "Yes… I do." He answered.

Helga felt her heart start to beat again, and rather fast even. "O-Oh, and… s-so what?" she asked, removing a lock of hair from her face. Arnold smiled, happy that she was finally willing to listen to him. "Listen to me… that poem, right?" he said carefully. She gulped and nodded for him to continue. "It means… absolutely _nothing_ to me, ok?"

Helga's shoulders dropped, and she felt like he had just ripped her heart out of her chest. "Uh… ex… e-excuse… me?" she asked. Arnold just kept smiling though, thinking she was just surprised at this little confession. "That poem means nothing, all right? I don't care!" he explained happily. "So… can we just pretend it never happened, and go back to normal?"

Helga kept staring at Arnold, feeling her lips go dry from not closing it in shock. She took a deep, unsteady breath and closed her eyes. "… No…" she answered slowly. Arnold's eyes went wide and he gasped a little. "W… W-Why not? Why can't we go back to normal?"

"We just… We just can't!" Helga answered and looked up at Arnold in shock. "How can you… How can you expect that of me…? You think that… little of it?" she asked. "Well… yeah. I mean… it doesn't matter, right?" he asked. "Doesn't… matter…? How… How can you say that?!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, some students hearing her very clearly.

Arnold backed away in pure shock. "Do you… Do you have any idea how much… courage something like that takes?!" Helga asked in anger. "I-It's like… giving a piece of your heart away, and then _you_ just… just… oh, God."

Helga lifted her hand to cover her fact with it. Arnold struggled to find the right words to correct this, but it was hard. _Yeah, I'm being harsh to that girl who wrote the poem, but… shouldn't Helga be happy about me not being interested…? Wait! Maybe it's like Gerald said, that she feels like this girl did something she never could, and now I'm looking down at someone, who could do something she never could?_

Helga's thoughts on the other hand were just one big mess. _I can't believe this… I knew he would never love me, but to say it doesn't matter… To say he wants to go back to 'normal' with such an innocent smile on his face… Oh, God, my chest hurts so much…_

"H-Helga, please… Let me explain…" Arnold said gently, not noticing they now had an audience. He lifted his hands to touch Helga's shoulders, but when he did, she shook them right off. She still refused to look at him and were hiding her eyes behind her hand. "No… I don't to hear your _explanations_… I've had it… I've had it!"

Arnold felt his heart break at the sight of Helga so miserable because of him. "I am _so_ disappointed in you." Helga said in a shaky voice, as a teardrop ran down behind her hand over her cheek. He gasped at her words. "No… No, Helga, please - "

"I can't even look at you right now." Helga whispered and started walking past him. "No, wait!" Arnold begged as he took her hand in his own. He heard her make a sound between a gasp and a growl for a second, before she turned around, her free hand up in the air.

The students around them gasped as the smacking sound echoed through the silent hallway. Arnold looked at Helga in utter tremor, as he felt the sting of her hand spread across his cheek. She was looking at him with so much pain in her eyes, that he could've started crying from the agony in his heart and not on his cheek.

When a small red mark, shaped like the form of her hand, appeared on Arnold's cheek, Helga's eyes went wide. _What…? No… I… I-I didn't just… I couldn't have…_ her thoughts jumbled around each other, while he lifted his free hand and touched his cheek gently.

Arnold felt Helga's hand start shaking heavily and he looked up to see her with tears brimming in hear eyes. She lifted her hands up to her mouth, as her whole body started shivering. She looked terrified.

For what seemed like forever, Helga and Arnold just stood there, gazing at each other in anxiety, ache and astonishment. At least until Helga closed her eyes, let the tears fall down her cheeks and herself fall to the ground on her knees. "Oh, God…!"

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: Yes! Cliffhanger! I am cruel! I'm not gonna say much in this second author's note, since I think I'll start talking too much about the next chapter or something, so just stay tuned.**

**Please do review and tell me about Aaron: Has your view on him changed throughout this story? What do you think about the actual heartfelt moment between him and Helga? And do you think his intentions has changed? :)**

**One more thing: I do NOT believe that this was the reason for Arnold to suggest 'the heat in the moment' thing! I believe he wasn't ready to be loved by any girl (he was just a ten year old boy, for crying out loud) and Helga wasn't ready for him to know it yet. That's the simplest explanation of what I believe on this matter, don't wanna start a whole debate about it :P**


	23. I kinda like him a little?

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**Helga finally admitted that she didn't feel worthy of Arnold to Aaron, when he interrogated her. As they talked, the sadness in her almost made her cry, until she felt his hand upon her head. It resulted in a refreshing laughter between the both of them, with Helga feeling just a little better.**_

_**To no one's, except Gerald's, knowledge, Arnold saw Aaron patting Helga's head and her laughing with him. Seeing that made him sprint down the hall, and even hurt himself in the process. He couldn't but feel a little happy though, when it was obvious how concerned Helga had been for him, ever since being told about that accident by the teacher.**_

_**When Arnold tried explaining his opinion about the poem to Helga, it ended up in a huge misunderstanding for the both of them. Helga thinking he didn't care about her feelings, and him still thinking she felt beneath the girl who had confessed to him. In anger, Helga slapped Arnold, to everyone's and her own utter shock.**_

**Author's 1st note: First time I don't know what to say in the first author's note! xD Uh… enjoy? xP**

* * *

Chapter 23: "I kinda like him a little?"

"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" a very small, fragile, shaky voice muttered behind a pair of pale hands. Arnold's eyes just kept watching Helga, down on her knees in front of him, bended forward in pain, keeping on muttering these words, as if a windup doll breaking. "I'm sorry…"

Arnold finally took a shaky breath and held out his hands towards Helga's head. "Hel…" was all he managed to squeak out, before his hand just froze. He was still in pure shock at the slap. He'd _never_ been slapped before, and he'd never imagined Helga _actually_ hitting him. She had threatened him with it through the years countless times, but had never actually done it.

Looking down at the girl in front of him, Arnold knew Helga hadn't meant for it to happen. Or at least regretted it deeply now. She was shaking, and he wanted to say something, _anything_, to make all this better. He didn't know how it ended up like this, _why_ she was this mad at him? It didn't make any sense.

Arnold finally looked away from Helga, noticing the crowd around them. All looking at him with sympathy, and at her with disgust. He turned his head completely, hoping to find the face he was looking for. He did. Gerald was standing next to Phoebe towards the corner of the next hallway, both with big and shocked eyes.

When Gerald and Arnold made eye contact, Arnold gave a silent request, which Gerald understood right away. "All right, everybody, show's over! Move on! There's lunch!" Gerald called, while clapping a bit for the attention. He started shooing people away. Some people complied, but most stood still, obviously interested in the drama going on.

Phoebe also started shooing people away, though with a kinder approach, which agreed more with some people. "Get the fuck out!" Aaron suddenly yelled, grabbing the collar of one of the students in a small group of boys. They quickly complied and scurried away.

Gerald and Aaron made eye contact, Gerald's eyes narrowed. "I still don't get your intentions, man." He muttered under his breath. "You don't need to get my intentions to appreciate my help." He simply answered and went around the corner to join the other students in leaving. Gerald and Phoebe turned to look at Arnold and Helga one last time, before they did so too.

Finally alone in the hallway, Arnold crouched in front of Helga, who was oblivious to what had just happened. The same thought went on a repeat inside her head, while she held her hands in front of her face, doing her best to hide it from the outside world. _I slapped him… I slapped Arnold…_

"Helga…?" Arnold asked carefully, putting one of his hands on her shoulder gently. Helga shook violently for a second, before calming down. "I'm so sorry…" she whispered yet again with a muffled voice. "It's ok." He answered.

"… Huh…?" Helga mumbled very quietly, still not looking at Arnold. "It's ok. I'm… sorry too…" he said quietly, before pulling her into his arms. Her eyes went big, tears flowing down on his white shirts. _He's… apologizing…? For not loving me….?_ She wondered in his head, before shutting her eyes tight.

"What are you… apologizing for…?" Helga asked with her mouth against Arnold's shoulder. He smiled a bit. _Finally, she said something else…_ "For everything. I'm sorry I hurt you. I didn't mean for that to happen, I swear." He answered in a low voice.

"Idiot!" Helga exclaimed in a sad voice, before she started sobbing. Arnold could hear her crying now, contradictory to before when her tears were silent. _And after I promised myself to never see her cry… then I'm the one making her cry._

_This idiot… This stupid, stupid idiot…!_ Helga thought, feeling her heart sink down to her stomach. _Not meaning to hurt me…? How could he not hurt me! Telling me my feelings doesn't matter, say that he wants to be friends again. My worst nightmares has come true… I hate him! I hate him, and yet…_ she lifted her arms to wrap them tightly around his waist, digging her fingernails into his flesh. _I love him… I still love him, damn it!_

"Are you… gonna be all right?" Arnold asked gently, while rubbing Helga's back a bit. _The hell I will…_ she thought with a sigh and pulled away. "I will be… at some point." She answered, hoping for it to be the truth. It just didn't feel like the truth right then.

Arnold smiled in relief. "So… we're ok?" he asked carefully, letting his fingers touch Helga's cheek gently. She looked at him, her eyes still brimming with tears. _Don't do that… Please don't… Don't be this kind to me, when you don't really love me…_ she thought and pulled her face away from his hand. "We will be… at some point." She answered and stood up.

"Huh?" Arnold mumbled with big eyes and stood up himself. "W… What do you… mean? I… Please, forgive me, Helga."

"There's nothing to forgive. It's not like it's your fault or anything. You can't help the way you feel."

"But, Helga, that's the thing. I don't feel any - "

"I get it!" Helga interrupted with a loud voice and let her shoulders drop. She looked away from Arnold, doing her best to try to compose herself. "I just… I just wanna go home. I… don't wanna be here right now."

"A-All right… Let me at least follow you home, ok?" Arnold asked, but Helga shook her head instantly. "No, please… I need to… I need you to keep your distance for a while, ok?" she asked pleadingly. His eyes went big. "But… But why?!"

"Oh, come on! You can't be that dense!"

"Apparently, I am! Helga, tell me, why do you want to avoid me?" Arnold asked in distress. Helga shook her head in disbelief and looked away. _Is he that stupid…? How can he not know how much this hurts?_ She put her hands up to her arms, covering herself, in a way trying to hide her feelings. He noticed the pained look in her body language though. "Please, just… do this for me, ok? I just need… to be alone."

Without waiting for Arnold to answer, Helga ran past him. It felt like everything went into slow-motion, as he felt her blonde her brush against him as they always did when she walked beside him, but this time they felt cold and were sending an uncomfortable shiver through him.

"Hel - " Arnold turned to call for her, but as he did, he remembered her words about wanting to be alone. He tried to stop every fiber in his being which wanted to call out for her, hug her, comfort her… because he knew it wouldn't help right now. "What have I done…?" he muttered and used his hand to rub his eyes with his palm. "Don't cry… Don't cry…"

* * *

When the bell rang, signaling the lunch period's ending, Arnold trudged towards his classroom. When he got inside, even in his current dazed state, he noticed everyone going quiet. He looked up and was met with mostly familiar faces. _They all know… They all saw what happened…_ He thought as he walked to his seat and slumped down.

"Hey, Arnold how are you feeling?" Sid asked carefully. "Shitty." Arnold simply answered, hoping for his classmates to leave him alone. It didn't work. "Yeah, no wonder!" Nadine chimed in with a frown. "I can't believe Helga would slap you!"

Arnold flinched at the reminder and just let himself sink back in his seat a little bit. He could still feel the sting on his cheek, but he didn't notice it as much as the pain soaring in his heart. He felt miserable, and he wondered if he should just have gone home like Helga had. It wasn't like he'd gain anything from this particular lesson at the moment.

"What the dang happened anyway?" Stinky asked. Arnold felt everyone's eyes on him, all eager to hear the juicy gossip. He scowled at them, which made them flinch a little, since he didn't usually scowl at anyone. "I don't wanna talk about it…" he answered and looked away.

"Anyway… Seriously, I can't believe the nerve of that girl." Rhonda stated. That caught Arnold's attention, and he frowned a tiny bit. "Why would she slap you?" Stinky wondered aloud. "Dumb question. Why does Helga punch anyone who stands in her way?" Nadine asked.

Arnold felt his eyebrows furrow at the way they were talking. _What the hell… They just asked me what is going on, but they're assuming it's Helga fault despite me not answering?_ He felt his hands curl into fists on the desk.

"It shouldn't really be so surprising, you guys." Harold chimed in with a pensive look on his face. "I mean, Helga _has_ always been a violent girl. She's pushed us, punched us, even kicked us. Why wouldn't she slap someone too?"

Arnold's eyes switched between getting bigger and narrowing. He didn't know whether to be mostly surprised or mostly angry. _I can't believe it! After all these years, after all the changes she's been through, she's still the same vicious girl to them? You've gotta be kidding me!_

"Well, yeah, but why _Arnold_? What did he ever do to her? Arnold's been nothing but nice to her eve since preschool, and this is the way she thanks him?" Rhonda asked and shook her head disapprovingly. "That girl has no manners. It's not like she deserved someone like Arnold to care for her, and yet she - "

A deafening bang with Arnold's fists against the desk made everyone flinch. "Shut up!" he yelled loudly. "Just shut up! Would everyone just _please_ shut up?!" he yelled, while he covered his ears and shook his head like a man going mad.

Arnold removed his hands from his head and turned to glare at the people around him. Everyone winced at the raging fury in his eyes. "What is the matter with you?! Didn't you all _just_ ask what was going on, and yet you've already decided it's all on Helga? What the fuck is wrong with you, you hypocrites!" he shouted, and started panting.

Everyone were staring at Arnold with big eyes. The preaching was nothing new, but the cursing and the anger was. "Uh… s-so… it _wasn't_ Helga's fault?" Rhonda dared to ask. He threw his hands up in the air in exaggerated disbelief. "Did you _not_ hear me? You guys don't know what's going on, and don't try asking me _or_ Helga, because it's none of your business what's going on! And if there's anyone… _anyone_ talking shit about Helga again, I'll… I'll… go all Helga on you!" he yelled, knowing very well his threat didn't make much sense.

"Gee, we're sorry, Arnold. We're just worried, that's all." Stinky said and shrugged. "You're not worried. You want a scapegoat, and that always seems to be Helga!" Arnold disagreed and crossed his arms.

"Well, _Arnold_, that's kinda her own fault with that behavior." Rhonda answered. Arnold narrowed his eyes at her. "Did you guys sleep all through the last couple of years? Did you guys miss the huge change in her, since we came back from San Lorenzo?" he asked, honestly now concerned about the truth on that matter. "Rhonda! Did Helga, or did she _not_, behave at your party like she promised? She even impressed your mother!"

"That… That doesn't change how she behaved as a child!" Rhonda said, trying to defend herself. "When she was a _child_! We're _sixteen_ now! Can you all claim that you haven't changed since then?" Arnold asked. "All right, Arnold, then tell us, why did Helga slap you if she has changed?!" Rhonda asked angrily. He gripped his hair in frustration. "Helga slapped me because I - "

Arnold's eyes went big, when he realized what he'd almost been tricked into doing. He let his arms fall down to his desk and narrowed his eyes at Rhonda. "Low blow, Rhonda. Really low, even for you." He muttered angrily. She wrinkled her nose, disappointed that her plan hadn't worked.

"Well, if you won't tell us why she slapped you, then we kinda have to try and guess for ourselves who is to blame, and with Helga's past, the logical choice would be her." Rhonda explained and crossed her arms in triumph. Arnold growled at the back of his throat and leaned a little towards her, making her lean back in slight fear. "You listen to me, you…"

"_skinny, stuck-up, arrogant, self-centered, wannabe French, poodle walking, Barbie clothes wearing, 'look at me, I'm pretty', daughter of a - "_

Arnold had to laugh, when that particular memory decided to appear in his mind, causing everyone to frown in confusion. To go from anger to laughter like that, almost made them think Helga might've slapped him a little too hard. That, plus his hit to the head earlier, made them all silently agree that was the reason for his sudden insanity and outburst.

"What are you laughing at?" Rhonda asked, only making Arnold smile at her. "Look, you guys, just… please leave this with Helga and me alone, all right? It would mean a lot to me, since it's kinda… personal and sensitive, so… please?" he pleaded. They only hesitated for a second, before they all nodded in agreement. Arnold had after all done a lot for them over the years. Leaving this one juicy subject on the shelf was the least they could do.

Arnold smiled thankfully and turned to look towards the clack board. _Can't believe that all I had to do to calm dawn, was to think of Helga…_ He thought with a slight smile and leaned on his cheek. _I'm… never gonna stop loving her… am I?_ He wondered with slight worry.

* * *

As soon as the bell rang, Arnold collected his books lazily. He wanted to get home and just… be in his room. Hopefully, Aaron wouldn't want to accompany him. He didn't want to talk with anyone right now. _I'm right back to when Aaron first arrived… No, not true… This is worse, because I hurt Helga this time around._

Arnold dared to turn and look at Aaron who, opposite himself, seemed to be rather quick in packing his bag. Arnold frowned. _Why is he in such a hurry?_ He started packing faster and followed Aaron outside the classroom.

"Hey, Aaron, where are you going?" Arnold asked, trying to sound casual. It didn't work. Aaron turned, not smiling nor frowning. "I'm going to Helga's house." He answered indifferently and readjusted the bag on his shoulder.

Arnold felt like an anvil had just dropped onto his head. "You're _what_? W-Why?" he asked. Aaron shrugged. "Simple. I wanna talk to her. Since she obviously don't wanna talk to _you_ right now, I figured now would be a good time." He answered.

"To talk… about what?" Arnold asked darkly. Aaron started smirking. "You know what." He answered and turned on his heels. "Aaron!" Arnold said threateningly and grabbed his arm to stop him. He turned around. "I swear…" Arnold started. "I still don't know what you want from Helga exactly… but I swear to God, if you hurt her in any way, I'll - "

"Hurt her like… _you_ did today?" Aaron asked seething. Arnold felt his heart stop. Aaron pulled his arm free of his grasp and took a few steps backwards. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm actually going to her place to comfort her, not to make my move on her."

_That doesn't make me feel any better…_ Arnold thought, but didn't say anything. "What, not gonna stop me? Even just comforting her might just make her like me, you know?" Aaron pointed out. Arnold clenched his fists and shut his eyes. "I know that… I just… I can't do anything for her right now, since she doesn't want to talk to me… so if you can help her more than I can, then…" he stopped talking.

Arnold wanted Helga to feel better, and if Aaron was the one who could do that, then he wanted to let him go, but he also didn't like the thought of Aaron alone with Helga in her house… in her room.

"So, you'd be willing to let the guy, who says he has a thing for the girl you're in love with, go into her room and comfort her, simply because… you think I can make her feel better?" Aaron asked. Arnold had determination in his eyes, as he nodded. That made Aaron's eyes go big. "That's a big risk to take, you know." He pointed out.

Arnold didn't waver though. "I just want her to feel better. When I talked with her earlier, she looked so miserable… I don't want to see her like that, so I want to help her. She doesn't want my help, but maybe… maybe she wants yours." He said with a sad smile. _I really don't want to see Helga fall in love with Aaron or anyone else… but I just want her to be happy, and if that's impossible with me then… then…_

Aaron gave an impatient snort, earning Arnold's attention again. "You know, Arnold, I still can't figure out if… you love Helga _too much_ or not enough." He said pensively. Arnold frowned. "Not enough…?" he repeated, but then Aaron turned around to walk his way to Helga's house.

* * *

"Stupid, stupid, stupid football head!" Helga repeated and finally threw the pillow, in her hands, down on the bed and collapsed on top of it with her head down. "Why? I was actually starting to believe that he'd just might… just maybe… No, don't cry… Don't cry!" she begged, despite her eyes already being red and puffy from crying.

_Why did this have to happen…? Why a poem…? Why a poem?! No… it's not even the poem's fault… Arnold just doesn't like me. I'll love him forever, and he'll always see me as a friend. I was stupid to think anything else…_

"Honey?" Miriam's tired voice called out to her from outside her room. Helga sighed and sat up. She quickly looked at herself in the mirror, and tried to whip the tears away from her face. "What do you want, Miriam?" she asked as she tried straightening her hair.

"There's a boy here asking for you." Miriam answered. Helga stopped her movements immediately and whipped her head around to look at the door. "W-Who?" she asked nervously. "I think it's this Arnold guy… Want me to let him in?" Miriam answered.

_Arnold…? None of my parents ever get Arnold's name right. They always call him either Arnie or Alfred or… Oh, no. Calling him Arnold probably means it's…_ Helga sighed deeply. "Yeah, let him in." she answered. _He'd probably just blackmail me into letting him in anyway._

A few seconds after, Aaron walked into Helga's room, seeing her sit on her bed with her back turned at him, clutching her pillow in her arms. He was quiet for about a half minute, before she heard the door close behind him. "Well, that was _quite_ a scene you caused at school today. Everyone's buzzing about it."

"Fantastic. I'm guessing everyone's calling me a bitch, not that's anything new…"

"They _did_…" Aaron corrected, still standing leaned up against the door. "_Did_?" Helga turned around to look at him over her shoulder. "Why are you saying it in past tense?" she asked. His eyes widened for a second, seeing how puffy her eyes were. _She must have been crying really hard…_

"Because Arnold snapped at them in class today, when they were talking badly about you. Sure shocked them all, he was furious at them for blaming you without knowing the whole story." Aaron answered. Helga felt her heart pop in both pain and happiness. She put her face down into her pillow. _Stupid football head… Why does he have to do that…? Make me love him even more, even after all this…_

"What do you want, Aaron?" Helga asked, wanting desperately to change the subject, and honestly getting him out as soon as possible. "Believe it or not, I'm here to comfort you." Aaron answered. She whipped her head up, lifted the pillow in her hand and threw it at him violently. "Well, you're off to a horrible start!"

"I know, I know." Aaron said, letting the pillow bounce off him. He sighed and took a couple of steps closer to her bed. "Look, I… seriously didn't mean for this to happen. I didn't think it'd end up like this."

"What do you care how it ended up? You got what you wanted, right? Amusement. Could you please find that somewhere else now?" Helga asked, took one of her other pillows and buried her face in it. She could feel her bed moving next to her. _That son of a bitch just sat down on my bed…!_

"Sure. I'm doing this for my own amusement, not to bring you in pain. I'm not evil."

"Could've fooled me…" Helga answered with a muffled voice thanks to the pillow. Aaron sighed and scratched his head. "Hey, uh… I'm not good at stuff like this. I don't know what to do with a girl, when she's… I've never even seen my own mom cry before, but I guess she probably hides when she does that…"

Helga uncovered one of her eyes to look at Aaron. He was looking ridiculously uncomfortable as he talked about his mother. _Serves him right… Wait, what does he mean she hides…?_ She thought curiously. "What do you mean, she hides?"

Aaron turned his head to look at Helga, surprised that she'd wonder about that in this situation. "Oh, well, uh… my mom and dad aren't on best terms, honestly. That's why she cares so much about her dance studio, it's kinda the place she can escape to."

"Is… your dad cruel to her?"

"Oh, God, no, it's nothing that serious. They just don't agree on much… It's the usual stuff they fight about. Money, work… mostly who's gonna have me living with them, you know, after the divorce." Aaron answered. Helga's chin landed on her pillow. "Divorce? Arnold never mentioned a divorce. Not that it's any of my business, of course."

"No, it's ok. No one knows. Dad and mom's been keeping it really quiet, they haven't even told _me_ yet."

"Then how you do - "

"Because I've got ears on my head. I can hear them fight almost every night, so they're naïve to think that I don't know. I'm also 16 years old, for crying out loud, I know they're not happy."

"… I'm sorry about that." Helga whispered. Aaron looked at her in disbelief. "You feel sorry for me?" he asked. She shrugged. "Well, that very, _very_ small part of me which does not resent you for blackmailing me _does_ feel sorry for you… a little. Maybe because… that part of me can… relate a little."

"You… can?"

"Uh-huh. My parents never considered divorce though; they wouldn't do that to my big sister Olga."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Don't they care about if you'll get sad if they got a divorce?" Aaron asked carefully. Helga snorted. "Yeah, right. That'd be the day… them caring about me. Ha!" she answered with a seething smile. "So, yeah, I understand that parents can suck."

Aaron turned to look at the door, as if he could see through it down into the living room. "Your mom did seem rather… tired." He observed. Helga's eyes narrowed a tiny bit and she put her chin on her pillow again. "Can I… ask why?" he asked.

Helga scowled and turned to look at Aaron. "Hell no! I'm not giving you more blackmail material!" she shouted. His eyes went big, but then narrowed in anger and offense. "I would never blackmail anyone about something like that!" he shouted right back, taking her by surprise. "You wouldn't?"

"No! Never about something like that." Aaron answered, his eyebrows furrowed in obvious resentment of the mere thought. Helga blinked in wonder. "Huh…" she mumbled and put her chin back on the pillow. "I guess there's at least a _little bit_ of decency in you."

"There is, I swear, though I guess I could have fooled you, right?" Aaron asked with a slight smirk. Helga gave a very short smile back. "That's also why…" he started scratching his head, and she couldn't help but cock an eyebrow at his odd behavior. "That's why I, uh… want to apologize about the whole poem thing. I guess I didn't realize how personal those were… I'm sorry."

Helga's eyes went bigger than teacups, as she lifted her head very slowly from the pillow. "You're… sorry?" she asked in amazement. "I-I know it seems halfheartedly, but, yeah… seriously." Aaron asked, not daring to look at her.

"Uh, no, that's not why I… I'm just surprised you even know that word." Helga answered. Aaron rolled his eyes and looked at her. "Come on, Helga, that's not funny. I'm honestly trying to say sorry here, and I just said that I'm not good at - "

"I know." Helga interrupted. "Sorry. I'm just… I'm not used to being the one apologized _to_, so… I kinda start joking, when I don't know what else to do. Either that or I get angry. And I don't have it in me to be angry right now… not even at you."

"Uh, thanks…" Aaron mumbled and scratched the back of his head again. "I'm too angry at myself…" Helga added and put her face down in her pillow. "I did the _one thing_ I swore to never ever do… I assaulted Arnold."

"Now, I don't think a slap counts as an _assault_ - "

"I don't care what the technical term would be! I just know I hit Arnold, and that's…" Helga stopped talking after hearing herself say those words aloud. "Oh, God… I hit him… I hit Arnold! What's wrong with me?! No matter what he'd might feel or not feel, I'd never want to hurt him! How could I hurt him like that…?"

Aaron saw how Helga started to shake, as she hid her face in the pillow. She was crying. Hard. He didn't really know what to do, so he just kept looking at her. At least for about a minute, until he decided he had to do _something._ It was too painful to look at.

_Well, it worked last time…_ Aaron thought, already embarrassed at his future actions. He lifted his hand and laid it gently on the back of Helga's head. Her shivering stopped slowly, and he dared to, instead of a typical pat, use his thumb to caress her hair a bit. He heard her sniff and she pulled her face away from the pillow. "Learned a new patting technique? Last time you literally clapped my head."

"I… Uh… Sorry." Aaron said, about to remove his hand. "No, it's ok. It's… oddly comforting." Helga said and closed her eyes with a sigh. He wasn't sure if her saying that meant that she wanted him to continue, but he did so anyway. He continued caressing her head with his thumb, slowly starting to mess with a lock of her hair. His other fingers started to massage her scalp. _This is… weird. Why do I like doing this so much…? It's almost as if I…_

Not able to finish that thought, Aaron removed his hand roughly. "Ow!" Helga exclaimed and put her hand on the spot, he had been caressing a second ago. "Oh, sorry, didn't mean to scratch you." He said, but didn't really feel all that sorry. _She's making me feel strange. What the hell?_

"Naw, it's ok." Helga answered and let her hand fall to her pillow. She gave an earnest smile to Aaron. "Thank you." She added. His eyes went wide, as he felt an unusual, warm feeling roam around in his chest. He shook his head, as if that could make it go away. "Uh, you're welcome, but, uh… do you actually feel any better?"

Helga sighed and rocked her head from side to side, as she thought about it. "Both yes and no… I feel more cheered up, but… that doesn't change the fact that I… did _that_… to Arnold." She answered and started biting at her lower lip. "You did catch on to the fact that he forgave you, right?" Aaron asked.

"Yeah, but that's just Arnold being Arnold! He'd forgive anyone, even if they don't deserve it, and I don't deserve it. Sometimes I wish he'd stand up for _himself_ a little more." Helga answered, looking away from Aaron. He kept looking at her, as an idea crossed his mind. _She'd might just get pissed at me… but, seriously, better that she's pissed at me than herself._ He thought.

"Helga… correct me if I'm wrong, but… more than anything else right now… then you feel mostly bad about slapping Arnold, right?" Aaron asked. Helga sighed and nodded. "Then… could you turn around to face me?" he asked.

Helga's eyebrow quirked and she turned to him. "Huh? Why? How is that gonna help?" she asked. "I'm sorry." Aaron said with a serious voice. She just frowned confused. "Sorry? You already said you were sorry. What are you - "

Then a slight smack stopped Helga from talking. She didn't gasp, she didn't make a squeak, as she felt a very faint sting to her cheek, way smaller than Arnold had felt. She kept staring at the bed, at the angle she had been slapped to.

"I'm Arnold's cousin, me slapping you would be like revenge on his behalf, right? Now you've both been slapped, and you can start forgiving yourself for something, you didn't even mean to do." Aaron explained and let his hand fall down to his thigh.

Helga turned slowly to look at Aaron with huge eyes. She didn't know what to feel. No one, _no one_ had dared slapping her before – her mom being an exception, but that had been so lazy and an obvious accident, that she didn't really count that as a proper whack. She felt the angry part of her boil up, but something made her not punch him into a pulp. Instead, she smiled gratefully. "Again: Your methods of comforting are disturbing."

"But they seem to work, so tell me, if my crazy way of comforting is working on _you_, what does that make you?"

"Crazy, but we already knew that." Helga answered. A few seconds of silence passed and then they both started laughing a little. "So, feel a little better this time?" Aaron asked, smiling. She sighed a bit, but then nodded. "Yeah… I think I might just be able to sleep tonight." She answered. He chuckled. "Well, that's a good thing."

Helga kept nodding as she smiled. Seeing her keep smiling at him like that, make Aaron's peculiar feeling grow. He tried to shake it off, but he couldn't, so instead he heard himself talking without having planned what he'd say ahead. "But, Helga, this doesn't change anything."

Helga just blinked a couple of times, and then her lips turned into two thin lines. "Yeah… I had a feeling it wouldn't." she answered and shook her head in disbelief. "But, I swear to God… I _won't ever_ ask you to do anything like this again. Nothing this personal." Aaron added. "You believe me?"

"Well… you've never lied to me before. The karaoke thing being an exception."

"I didn't know there'd be karaoke, but you handled that pretty damn well! You even seemed like you had fun."

"I did… I just never thought I… would have."

"Then that wasn't such a bad thing now, was it?"

"… I still hate you." Helga answered with a smile. Aaron smirked for a second, but then mentally tore the smile off his face. "But… you believe me anyways?" he asked. She nodded. "Yeah, you've never given me any reason not to. Besides, Arnold already knows I have feelings for him, so I only want to hide it from everyone else… I'm not going to do something insane just to hide it from them, though I'd definitely prefer it if they didn't know."

"Helga… Arnold doesn't know you have feelings for him." Aaron said. Helga turned to look at him. "What? Yes, he does. That's what the whole fight was about, you idiot." She answered casually. He shook his head. "No. Arnold thinks that you got mad because he got a poem from another girl."

"Huh? But… why would he think that? Doesn't that mean he knows I'm in love with him?"

"No, but he's starting to _think_ you might have feelings for him. He thinks you got jealous and therefore talked down about that poem."

"… Great, so to him, I slapped him because I got jealous of someone sending him a poem?"

"Pretty much."

"Amazing… I don't want Arnold to think that I'm _that_ jealous." Helga said with a frown. "You're not?" Aaron asked. She hesitated for a second. "Well… if it _had_ been from another girl… I might have tried to track her down. Not sure what I'd do afterwards though. Depends on the girl, I guess." She answered, and then her frown got deeper. "Oh, my God, I asked him to stay away from me…"

"What? Why would you - "

"Because I thought he knew that poem was from me, and he told me the poem didn't mean anything to him, so I… I was hurt and wanted to _not_ be around him. Can you blame me?"

"I guess not… but he doesn't know, Helga, he's suspicious, but he doesn't _know_." Aaron explained. Helga took in a deep breath, smiled and let herself fall back on her bed. "Oh, thank goodness… I may still have a chance…" she lifted her hands on put them over her face. "Oh, thank you, God."

Aaron had to smile at Helga's relieved smile. "I even think that maybe the next blackmail mission _might_ just catch his attention." He said thoughtfully, as the idea occurred to him. She removed her arms from her face. "W… What do you mean…?" she asked nervously.

Aaron shrugged and stood up. "You'll see tomorrow. Go to bed early, you'll need the rest." He said teasingly as he went towards her door. Helga sat up, turned around and stared at him. "What are you gonna make me do?" she asked.

Aaron opened the door and turned around with his usual smirk. "I'm gonna make you welcome me into your house tomorrow morning. Be up at 7:30am." He said and slowly started to close the door. "Oh, and don't get dressed before I arrive."

Then Aaron winked and closed the door, leaving Helga with big and scared eyes. "What the hell are you talking about?! What are you gonna make me do?! Creep! Pervert! I almost started _not_ disliking you!" she screamed at the door, grabbed a pillow and threw it at it.

Helga sighed, as she kept glaring at the door. _What the actual fuck… One second he wants to comfort me, the next he tells me to not get dressed before he visits me the next morning, tells me the next blackmail might catch Arnold's attention…_ She smirked a bit. _He's insane… complete and utter insane. Maybe that's why… I kinda like him a little?_ She frowned. _Not enough to not hate him too though._

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: I'm gonna try and ask again, since this chapter also kinda revolved around Aaron a bit more: Has your opinion about him changed through this story? If yes, how so? What do you think his intentions were and what they are now, if you believe they have changed? Oh, and one more thing: Did you realize Aaron would "slap" Helga on Arnold's behalf just before he did it, or were you surprised? :P Oh, and, seriously, it was more like a light clap xD Even Helga's slap wasn't hard or anything :P**

**By the way, Arnold's comment about going "all Helga" on them, is meant as he'll go crazy on them xD It's based on something I've started saying myself, when I feel like I'm mad at someone or mostly I say it as a joke :P**


	24. Why are you wearing that thing?

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**When Helga finally cracked down in despair after slapping Arnold, she asked him to stay away from her for some time. She needed to get used to the fact that he would never love her, not knowing how much pain she brought to Arnold by such simple words.**_

_**Everyone around Arnold started questioning and even blaming Helga for what had happened. He snapped and shouted 'till his throat hurt and only by a memory of Helga popping out made him relax.**_

_**When the day finished, Aaron made his way to Helga to comfort her. An awkward pat, some explanation and a promise of never asking her to do something as personal as writing a poem ever again later, made Helga forgive him and even start to care for him just a little. Despite him telling her he'd be ready with another blackmail mission for her the next morning. Even telling her not to get dressed before he'd arrive.**_

**Author's 1st note: Again: Don't know what to say. Enjoy! xD**

* * *

Chapter 24: "Why are you wearing that thing?!"

At the boarding house, Arnold was currently repeatedly stepping his foot down to the floor as his fingertips continued to tap on the wooden table. He looked at the clock again. 6 o'clock. _Why is Aaron not home yet? The school let us leave at 4pm, how can he be at her house for two hours? Oh, God… no, no, no. No! Don't panic!_

Stella and Miles were looking at their son with worry. He had refused to talk to them about what had happened this particular day, which was very worrying, since he'd usually vent on them to get it all out. This time was different. They figured it must be worse than ever much to their dismay, since Helga had seemed to have so much fun at the house only yesterday.

Arnold also seemed to be waiting for something. They figured it'd be Aaron, since he wasn't home yet, and by the look of Arnold, he was probably with Helga. Still, he refused to talk to them, he was just sitting at the dining table, tapping with his foot and fingertips simultaneously.

"I'm home!" Aaron called as he opened the front door. Arnold's head didn't even manage to whip all the way around, before his body already stood up from the chair and he ran out into the hallway. "Why did it take so long?" he asked, and had to use his right hand to hold himself back at the doorframe.

Aaron blinked rapidly for a few seconds. "What, were you worried about me, honey? I'm not cheating or anything." He answered sarcastically. Arnold narrowed his eyes and growled. "Oh, relax!" Aaron exclaimed with a smile and lifted the shopping bag in his hand up to show it. "I just went out shopping, you paranoid, lovesick puppy."

Arnold took a deep breath and sighed in relief. "What the hell… shopping? Then, didn't you go to Helga's house?" he asked with a small frown. "Oh, no, I did go to her house." Aaron answered as he walked past him. "Uh… h-how long were you there?" Arnold asked, following him into the dining room.

Aaron put the shopping bag on the table and gave a pensive look. "About… fifteen to twenty minutes, maybe?" he suggested and turned to look at Arnold, who plumbed down on a chair with a relieved smile.

Aaron snickered. "You _know_, twenty minutes _is_ enough to do stuff, right?" he asked. Arnold's head whipped right back up and he stared at him with big, scared eyes. Aaron snickered again and smacked Arnold on the shoulder. "But you're right to be relieved. I didn't touch her. Relax already."

Arnold sighed in a mix of annoyance and relief. _Must he yank my chain like that…? Oh, well, at least he doesn't seem to be lying. I don't think Helga would be the kind of girl to do that with a boy without dating him anyway…_

"So, did, uh… did you help her?" Arnold asked, honestly concerned about that matter. "Not sure how it's gonna make you feel, but we even shared a laugh together. I think I left her feeling a lot better." Aaron answered.

Arnold smiled and sighed en relief yet again. "You sure are weird. Aren't you at all pissed that _I_ could comfort her, and you couldn't?" Aaron asked. "As long as Helga feels better, then I'm glad. I just hope she'll… lift his whole 'don't come near me for some time'-thing soon." He answered.

"Oh, yeah, she mentioned saying something like that."

"She did, huh…?"

"Yeah. I have a feeling you don't need to worry too much about that. She just needs a little time to get her head wrapped around things."

"You… think so?"

"Yep. Don't question why. I just do." Aaron answered, took his shopping bag and went outside. "What did you buy anyway?" Arnold asked a bit curiously to why he'd suddenly have a craving to shop. Was it not only girls who got those? "Some new clothes." Aaron asked indifferently before walking up the stairs.

"Huh…" Arnold mumbled, shrugged and went into the living room. Stella and Miles were currently sitting together on the couch, watching TV, but instantly turned their attention to him as he walked in. "Hi, honey. How are you feeling?" Stella asked carefully. He smiled as he sat down in one of the chairs. "Much better now, thanks." He answered and could feel himself drift off. _I guess I tired myself out worrying for two hours straight… Sorry, mom. Sorry, dad…_ and with that, he fell asleep, leaving Stella and Miles to wonder what the heck was going on in their only son's life.

* * *

Tuesday morning, Aaron went to Helga's house as promised. He got a little worried, when he realized how easy it was to simply walk in. "Haven't the Pataki's ever heard of locks?" he wondered, making sure he locked the door after him. "Excuse me? Mrs. Pataki? Mr. Pataki? Helga? Hello?" No answer.

Aaron snuck his way through the hallway, suddenly hearing some light snoring from the living room. He stopped and looked inside, seeing Mrs. Pataki from yesterday, lying on the couch sleeping with a bottle in her hand. He frowned and looked towards Helga's room. "I guess she was serious, when she said she could relate…" he muttered and continued his way to her room.

Aaron stopped in front of Helga's door and knocked lightly. "Helga?" he said, not waiting for an answer, but simply opened the door. He was about to speak further, when he noticed her big, blonde hair cascading over her pillow.

Aaron sighed. "You're still not up yet?" he wondered aloud, though he could see the answer right in front of him. He closed the door behind him and walked to her bedside. "Helga, it's seven…" He started, but felt his heart pop a bit, at seeing Helga sleeping. He had expected a girl like her to be sleeping rather messily, and though her position was odd, then her face was peaceful and almost smiling a bit.

Helga had her head sideways on the pillow; both hands pulled up to beneath her chin, making her look like a cat about to scratch its nose. One of her legs, the one closest to the madras, was hidden neatly under the covers, but the other one laid perfect out to display, half of her duvet in-between her legs.

Aaron frowned and snickered a bit. "You'll catch a cold, sleeping like that, you idiot." He mumbled and looked towards the window. "Especially with that open! The hell…" he mumbled, put his bag on her bed and walked towards the window. He closed it roughly, feeling oddly annoyed by his sudden worry for her.

Aaron turned to look at Helga over his shoulder. What was that girl doing to him? Then he, mostly out of frustration, went right to her and smacked the back of her head. "Ow!" she exclaimed and sat up, holding her head.

"Idiot, why was the window open?" Aaron asked. "Huh?" Helga mumbled and looked at him, then towards the window, which he pointed to. "Oh, I… I get hot at night, so I usually leave it open." She answered while rubbing the spot he had just hit.

"And apparently, you don't even sleep with your duvet _on_ your body, you use it to cuddle with?" Aaron asked, eyeing Helga's leg, which was still on full display. "Huh?" she muttered and looked down. She squeaked a bit, before she pulled her leg back in, completely covering herself in her duvet. "Ok, now _that_ is something I automatically do at night. When I go to sleep, I _am_ fully covered. I guess the position is just comfortable."

"Then get a pillow to have in-between your legs instead. Window open, legs out, you're bound to get a serious cold!"

"Hey! Why do you care so much about how I sleep?"

Aaron just blinked at Helga's defensive attitude. "I don't know." He answered quickly and sat on her bed. "And you keep making yourself comfortable on _my_ bed!" she added with a frown. "Get over it. It's not like you haven't had a boy in here before." He answered and started rummaging in his bag.

"The way you say it, makes it sound sleazy."

"I _did_ mean in the sleazy way. You have, haven't you?"

"Of course not! I've been in love Arnold since I was a child! You think I'd just go for some other guy then?" Helga asked with a frown. Aaron turned to look at her with big eyes. "Well… n-no, but… so you're…" he stopped talking at the obvious scowl on her face.

"Huh…" Aaron muttered thoughtfully and cocked his eyes to the side, eyeing Helga. "Weird… aren't you frustrated? I mean… by your stories about Arnold, then you seem like a, uh…-passionate girl. Don't you - "

"What the hell kinda conversation is this? First of all, none of your beeswax, _bucko_! Secondly, you out of everyone who knows me knows about my feelings for Arnold. You call me passionate and I… I _know_ what you mean, I guess, but the part of me, which is devoted to Arnold, is way bigger. Besides, I don't feel _passionate_ about anyone else beside him."

"Whoa… you _must_ be frustrated then." Aaron observed and pulled a small plastic bag out of his bag. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, could we _not_ talk about this?" Helga asked and eyed the bag. "What's in that?"

"Your outfit for today or at least half of if." Aaron answered. Helga's eyes went wide. "Excuse me?!" she shouted, grabbed the bag and pulled out whatever she could find in it. She found _one_ item. A skirt. A pink, plaid skirt with a build-in black belt and a circular silver-buckle.

Helga's eyebrows started twitching. "Wha… What _is_ this thing?" she asked with a serious frown. "It's called a _skirt_. You know what a skirt is, right?" Aaron asked. She rolled her eyes. "Yes, I know what a _skirt_ is. A skirt is a skank who prances around in clothes like this, and I'm not one of them!"

"Now, hold on, Helga, first of all: A girl is not a skank for wearing a skirt, though I guess it depends on the skirt, this is not _nearly_ short enough to be considered skanky." Aaron corrected. Helga held the skirt up and eyed it grudgingly. "You sure about that?" she asked scornfully.

"Yes, I'm sure. Besides, you get to choose your own top, so you can still cover up." Aaron pointed out. "I'm wearing a hoodie with this then." Helga announced. "I even have hoodies long enough to cover more of my legs than this!"

"You can't wear a hoodie with a skirt!"

"Says who?"

"Common sense! Never mind, I'll find something for you." Aaron said, stood up and went to Helga's closet. She sighed heavily and eyed the skirt. She frowned a bit at the fact that she didn't mind the skirt as such. When she first hit puberty, she still wore dresses like she did as a child. At least until guys started whistling at her, because her chest was growing and her legs got longer and more toned. Then she started covering up. She didn't mind the skirt, it was the attention which came along with it she hated.

"Here we go. This is decent, still cute and sexy." Aaron said, when he found something. He threw two items at Helga and she caught it with ease. She eyed the items. A white dress shirt and a black top to go beneath.

"Huh… I was sure you'd give me a tank-top like this, but a shirt too?" Helga asked full of wonder. "You've already got an eye-catching rack; you don't need to show it off to make guys notice." Aaron explained and sat down again. She automatically used the shirt to cover her chest up. "Pervert!"

"Oh, come on, don't give me that bullshit. I've seen a picture of your big sister; you can't possibly mean that you're not at least a little bit gleeful for being the one with the bigger chest?" Aaron asked with an eyebrow quirked. Helga couldn't help but smirk. "Well, that is the only area I've ever surpassed her in." she answered.

"See? And now it's time to show off your legs. You've got long, beautiful legs and the weather's getting warm. Show them off already!" Aaron said as he lightly smacked Helga's bare leg. "Hands off!" she yelled, removing her entire body as far away from him as possible. "Oh, relax, I barely touched you." He answered and stood up to walk out the door. "Call me when you're done changing."

And then Helga was left alone with the skirt in front of her. She sighed heavily as she looked at it. She cocked her head to the side. "It's actually a little cool… and it's not really a miniskirt or anything. He could've made me wear something way worse." She muttered and stood up to change.

* * *

"Are you done already?" Aaron asked impatiently. "Uh… y-yeah, but, I, uh…" Helga answered from inside the room. "Then I'm coming in!" he announced, opened the door and walked in. She whipped her body around, standing sideways as she looked at him with deer like eyes.

Aaron stopped dead in his tracks, when he saw Helga. He gulped a little bit. He had been right; it suited her perfectly. Cool, cute, sexy and she could definitely pull it off. "Uh, so what do you think?" he asked with a small cough.

Helga growled and turned around to look at herself in her mirror. "I think that I look like every other fucking girl in school like this!" she answered. Aaron shook his head. _The hell you do…_ He mumbled inside his head and smirked a bit, as he walked over to her. "No, you don't. You may not be covered up as much as before, but you still have your own style to it. Cool and cute, not a lot of girls can pull off both, you know."

Helga frowned. "Cute…? I'm Helga G. Pataki, I don't do cute! I'm the girl with the iron fists. People fear me! How can they fear me looking like this?" she asked. "How about having them respect you instead?" Aaron suggested. She just groaned and looked at herself again. She didn't want to admit it, but she did think she looked kinda good in it. The skirt, while still being a skirt, was kinda cool and tough looking thanks to the rivets on the belt.

"Ok, now, the rest." Aaron announced. Helga whipped her head around. "The rest? What do you mean 'the rest'?" she asked. "Your hair first of all. You always wear it in pigtails. When I saw you with loose, curly hair, I thought it was too bad you always made those lazy things. You obviously have something for that pink ribbon you always wear, how about using it to make a ponytail?" he suggested.

Helga looked at her pink ribbon, which was hanging lazily over her mirror. She sighed and took her hairbrush. "Fine. I haven't worn a ponytail _ever_, but I think I can manage." She muttered and started brushing her long, blonde hair.

"You've _never_ worn your hair in a ponytail?" Aaron asked in shock. Helga shook her head, as she kept brushing. "Loose hair, ponytails and buns is what I usually wrap my hair in." she answered and switched to the other half of her hair.

"Too bad. I think a ponytail would suit you." Aaron stated and looked at Helga's pink ribbon again. "By the way, why do you love that ribbon so much?" he asked. She stopped moving for a second, surprised by the question, but then continued as she answered. "I've worn it ever since preschool, because… because it was the first thing that ever brought me a compliment."

"What do you mean?"

"My first compliment ever was because of that bow, so… it's special to me."

"… Let me guess: Arnold?"

"Oh, how did you know?" Helga asked sarcastically and went to take a hair elastic. She looked at herself in the mirror, narrowing her eyes a bit, as she tried figuring out how the easiest way to do this would be. "Uh…" she muttered, took the hairbrush again and brushed her hair back.

"Want some help?" Aaron asked with a crooked smile. Helga growled a bit, but then passed him the hairbrush. "Yeah, since it's _you_ who's making me do this anyway." She answered. He took the hairbrush with a smile. "Bend your head back." He ordered and stood behind her.

Helga bend her head back. She could feel Aaron brush her hair gently. "The hair elastic please." He asked and held out his hand. She twisted her arm to give it to him, making sure not to move an inch besides that. He took it and tied her hair into a ponytail with ease.

"There we go." Aaron announced and stepped to the side. Helga lifted her head and looked into the mirror. "Hey, that's not bad." She said and took her pink ribbon. She twisted it around her ponytail with apparent skills and made into a perky bow.

"See? Perfect. Now, I know you're not fond of it, but it's makeup time." Aaron said. Helga groaned, but went to her small box, which contained very few makeup products. Most were from back in fourth grade. "I don't have a lot, you know."

"That's fine. We're only talking mascara. We don't wanna give the other guys a stroke now, would we?"

"I'll make them faint anyhow by just prancing around like this. Seeing the tomboy in a skirt will make them flip their eyelids." Helga answered, took the one mascara she owned and went in front of the mirror. Her hands were obviously not used to put on mascara, but she had done it a few times before and within a few minutes, she had managed to put a decent amount on every eyelash. "Happy?"

"Yeah, now you're done." Aaron answered with a smile and went towards the bed. "But… hey, wait a second! How am I supposed to explain this to people?" Helga asked. He rolled his eyes. "Just tell them you wanted to try something new."

"Hell no! Helga Pataki doesn't wear skirts! I have a certain image, you know."

"How about creating a new image? One were you don't have to dress a certain way to see yourself as the same girl?" Aaron suggested and turned around. Helga's eyes went a little big at that. "Huh? What… What is that supposed to mean?"

"You reek of a girl who thinks she's thinking for herself, but actually you're whipped by your own classmates! You dress the way you believe a tough girl would dress. Why can't a girl be sexy, cute _and_ tough? _That's_ thinking for yourself. Dress however you want to! You obviously like the way you look right now! If you really don't give a damn about what people think about you, then why do you need an excuse to wear something you like?"

Helga was in shock. No one had ever talked to her like that. Aaron sighed and shook her head in relinquishment. "Never mind. I'll go to school now. You still need to eat, right? See you there." He said and went outside. "But think about what I said, ok?"

Helga kept staring at the now closed door. _What the hell…_ She thought and looked at herself in the mirror. She put her hands on her hips and made a small pose. _Do I really succumb to my classmates without realizing?_

* * *

When Helga got to school, she caught herself hiding around the corner, waiting for Phoebe. She knew which direction she'd be coming from, so she just stood there, tapping with her converse clad shoe. She tightened her long, black, coat around her waist, which was longer than her skirt. _It's too fucking warm to be wearing this coat, but I don't give a damn!_

Finally, Helga could see Phoebe walking down the street. "Phoebe!" she called and waved. Phoebe looked up from her phone and smiled. "Good morning, Helga!" she called and waved back. She put her phone in her pocket and ran the rest of the way to her. "You have your hair in a ponytail today! Whoa, it suits you."

"Yeah?" Helga automatically touched her pink bow, which was still tied snugly around the ponytail. "Thanks, Phoebs." She said and removed her hand. Phoebe narrowed her eyes and got a little closer. "And are you wearing mascara?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"No, not as such. It's because I'm a girl; I notice stuff like that. You look good, Helga, but why this sudden change?"

"You haven't seen everything yet." Helga answered with a nervous smile. "I haven't? Well, what else?" Phoebe asked, suddenly noticing the black coat. "You're hiding something behind that coat, aren't you?"

"Uh-huh." Helga answered and started to untie the belt around her hips. She opened her coat and revealed the black tank top, white shirt and pink, plaid skirt with the black belt. Phoebe's eyes practically popped out of her head. "Cute skirt, Helga!" she exclaimed and touched the ripped endings of it.

Helga sighed and rolled her eyes. "And kinda cool too. It's very you." Phoebe added with a smile. "Yeah?" Helga said again and looked down. "I do kinda like it. I just… You need to be around me today, ok, Phoebs? I think the boys may leave me alone if I'm around another girl, or at least hold back a little."

"Well, I'm not very threatening, but I'll do my best. Still, Helga, what's going on?" Phoebe asked. "Uh… ok, listen. Miriam… Miriam decided to go all motherly all of a sudden and threw almost _all_ of my clothes in the washing machine! I had to borrow some of Olga's clothes." Helga answered and shook her head. "I mean; criminy! What is Miriam thinking; washing everything at the same time?"

Phoebe nodded understandingly. It was a plausible situation, given the fact that Miriam did sometimes have her out-of-nowhere urges to be a better mother. They didn't last long though. "So, that's why you're wearing the skirt, but why the ponytail and the mascara?" she asked.

"Uh… that's kinda, uh… that's mostly because I just felt like trying something new. You don't think this will give me extra attention, right?" Helga asked, biting her lower lip. "Uh, no. The boys will only notice your legs." Phoebe answered.

"As if that's any better!" Helga shrieked and wrapped her arm around Phoebe's arm. "You gotta stick with me all day, you hear? I can't walk around alone like this! I feel like a deer alone in the jungle."

"Deer don't live in the jungle."

"Never mind! You know what I mean. Please, Phoebe?" Helga pleaded. "Well, sure, Helga. I don't mind that, but you _do_ know that we don't have Biology together, right?" Phoebe asked. Helga sighed heavily, as she recalled exactly that. "Great. So I'm going to have to run upstairs alone to avoid the boys. Fan-fucking-tastic!"

"Hey! Morning, Phoebs!" a boy's voice called behind Helga. She froze. It was _Sid's_ voice, and everyone knew how much he liked to flirt with girls. Hollering and whistling, the whole deal. "Oh, good… morning, boys." Phoebe answered, knowing very well how her best friend would handle this situation in second.

"Who's your friend, Phoebe?" Stinky asked, eyeing the back of the familiar blonde girl, yet the not so familiar skirt. "Wait…" Helga could hear Sid say suspiciously. "Isn't that… Oh, my God! Isn't that you, He - "

"We're going to class, Phoebe!" Helga called and went to grab Phoebe's hand. Phoebe had already lifted her hand, ready to be pulled along with her. Sid and Stinky watched the girls, as they started running towards the schoolyard.

Sid turned to look at Stinky. "That _was_ Helga, wasn't it?" he asked. "And that _was_ a skirt she was wearing, wasn't it?" Stinky asked, equally confused. After seeing the two girls run into the school, they ran after them.

"No need to panic, Helga, you can't hide forever anyway." Phoebe pointed out, a little out of breath. "I know, but… it's _Sid_." Helga answered with a frown. "I understand." Phoebe said with a similar frown on her face. "But what are you gonna do? We share the next class with them. You even sit in front of Sid."

"Oh, great! I had forgotten about that! Uh… b-but… is there really any reason to worry?" Helga asked, noticing the other girls around them. "What do you mean?" Phoebe asked. "Well, look." Helga answered and gestured to the other girls around them. "A lot of girls are wearing skirts. Who says anyone will notice me wearing one?"

"They will, Helga, you know why?"

"No, but I bet you're gonna tell me."

"Because you haven't worn a skirt or a dress since we were 12 years old. Seeing your bare legs all of a sudden would be like a rare treat for the boys."

"… Creepy comparison, but I get your point." Helga answered with a sigh. The door next to them went up, and the girls noticed Sid and Stinky looking around. When they got eye contact, Sid smirked and walked over to them. Helga scowled immediately.

"Hey, Helga. You ran away all of a sudden, so we didn't get to say… good morning." The reason for Sid's hesitance was that he had to make sure _Helga_ of all girls were wearing a _skirt_. She crossed her arms beneath her chest, involuntarily making her breasts pop out a little more, much to the boys' notice. "Listen, bucko, I'm only wearing this because I had no choice. My mom threw all of my clothes into the washing machine at the same time, so I had to use one of Olga's… Hey!"

Helga smacked Sid's chin upwards, making him look her in the eyes. "My eyes are up here, bucko. You too, Stinky! It's even more obvious with you because you're a freaking beanstalk!" she shouted.

Both boys gave an awkward laugh, as they scratched the back of their heads. Helga could see an odd blush on their cheeks, one she didn't care much for. "Sorry, Helga. We'll see you two in Math, all right?" Sid said and pushed at Stinky's back.

Phoebe and Helga eyed them as they scurried off. "Phoebe!" Helga said in a whimpering voice. "I don't wanna be here!"

"I understand that, but you can't go home _now_. Let's just go to class and get it over with, ok?" Phoebe suggested and held out her arm to Helga to escort her to class. She sighed and snuck her arm around the shorter girl's one. "Thanks, Phoebs."

* * *

"This… is… a… nightmare!" Helga shouted as soon as Math was over, and she and Phoebe were outside. She kicked a random trashcan, making all of its content spill out in the hall. "You probably shouldn't kick stuff." Phoebe pointed out. "Huh?" Helga muttered. Phoebe looked down at her skirt, and so did Helga. "Oh, great!" she said with realization and pulled down at the skirt. "Thank God I'm wearing _black_ panties."

"Will you be all right for our next class?" Phoebe asked. The former events of the first one went through Helga's head. "No!" she answered and shook her head to get the images of the boys ogling her out of her head. It didn't work.

"Maybe we can ask another girl to follow you?" Phoebe suggested. "Yeah, right, as if I'd want to ask anyone else for help besides _you_. Nu-uh. No way!" Helga answered and crossed her arms. Though Phoebe felt honored to have Helga trust her more than anyone, she was also feeling sad because she couldn't help her at this moment.

Helga noticed Phoebe's guilty look and shook her head with a smile. "Naw, I'll be all right. I'll just run into the classroom now." She answered and waved a bit at Phoebe, who started smiling a bit. "Good luck! See you for lunch." She said and waved back.

"Yup, see ya!" Helga answered and started running. _At least Aaron didn't make me wear high-heels to match the skirt or something. _She ran up the stairs. _I can at least run in these shoes, but I gotta be careful… One wrong step and I'll end up on the floor, probably with my underwear on full display._

As soon as Helga had finished thinking that thought, she reached the upstairs and bumped into someone. Both she and the other person shouted in shock, as they tumbled back. "Ow! Watch where you're going!" Helga barked, but gasped when she saw who was in front of her. "Arnold?!"

Arnold shook his head and started holding it, before he looked up. "Helga!" he yelped in equal surprise. Helga was sitting in front of him, her knees bended close together but her ankles far away from each other, making it clear to see that her legs was bare, but not what exactly she was wearing.

"Hey, have you guys heard about Helga today?" a random boy's voice asked from down the stairs. Helga gasped and sat up. Arnold did the same thing, looking towards the voice but not for long, because Helga grabbed his hand and made him run with her.

"Wait, Helga! What's going on? And why are you…" Arnold's eyes went down and he noticed the pink, plaid skirt, which Helga was wearing. His eyes went wide and he felt some heat rise in his lower abdomen. "Why are you wearing that thing?!"

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: Still don't know what to say! Hope you enjoyed! xD**


	25. There's no old Helga or new Helga

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**Arnold felt the relief rush through him, when Aaron came home to tell him that Helga felt better. He was so relieved he fell asleep immediately. The next morning Aaron gave Helga her next blackmail mission: To wear a pink, plaid skirt, which she to her utter frustration, actually liked quite a bit.**_

_**Not to Helga's surprise, boys noticed the change in her appearance right away, and that was the one part about the skirt she hated: The sudden male ogling. Running from the boys around her, she ran upstairs and bumped right into Arnold, as they often also did as children. He didn't get much time to question her outfit, because suddenly she ran off with him, holding his hand.**_

**Author's 1st note: The reason for this chapter to have taken longer, is because I have just written my very first Hey Arnold! One-shot! It's already uploaded, please do check out the summary and see if it's something you'd like to read ;)**

* * *

Chapter 25: "There's no old Helga or new Helga"

"Wait, Helga! What's going on? And why are you…" Arnold's eyes went down and he noticed the pink, plaid skirt, which Helga was wearing. His eyes went wide and he felt some heat rise in his lower abdomen. "Why are you wearing that thing?!"

As Helga could practically feel herself bounce through the hallway, she remembered the skirt and felt heat rise in her heat. _Oh, crap! Arnold's right behind me! Arnold! No! Never mind! Get your priorities straight, girl!_

"Get your priorities straight, bucko! We need to get the hell away from those boys!" Helga simply answered and turned a corner. "But- whoa! Why are we running?" Arnold asked, still not capable of taking his eyes away from that skirt. It was just the weirdest thing ever! He hadn't seen her in something like that since they were 12, and now all of a sudden at the age of 16, she decides to throw on something like that, even after telling him to stay away from her? What, was this her new way to torment him or something?

"We can play 20 questions later, Arnoldo!" Helga answered and started to look around. She looked at the row of lockers, noticing one of them open. _What kinda idiot leaves their locker open? Maybe no one's using it._ She was about to run past it, when reality dawned on her.

"I'm an idiot!" Helga announced and stopped. Arnold had been just about to stumble into her, but she ran around him and pulled him to the locker. "Get in there!" she ordered and pushed him into the locker. "What?" was all he managed to squeak out, before she went inside too and closed the door behind her.

Arnold's eyes went wide, as he could feel Helga standing very close to him in this small locker. She had both her hands planted on the wall behind him, while her head was turned completely to try to look outside.

"H-Helga, what's going on?" Arnold asked, doing his best to think about something else than three very annoying facts. One, he was a boy. Two, she was a girl (his dream girl, might he add). And three, they were standing so very, _very_ close together!

"Shhh!" Helga begged and used her hand to cover Arnold's mouth. He gasped, when he felt her warm hand against him. He already felt heat rising within him; her touching him didn't exactly help. When they heard the boys' voices outside, she even snuck closer to him, doing her best to not accidentally push the door open, since it wasn't locked.

_This is bad! So very, very bad!_ Arnold thought inside his head and tried to say something behind Helga's hand. "I'm sorry," she said and a low, feathery voice. "I know this position is uncomfortable, but please tolerate it for a bit."

_Uh, no… tolerating is not really the issue here…_ Arnold thought and closed his eyes. He could feel Helga's slim body pressed firmly up against him, her breasts comfortably pushed against his chest, one of her legs in-between his own, her thigh even brushing him a little too close to his manhood.

Outside, Helga could hear the two boys from before talking. "But isn't Helga Pataki usually really tomboyish?" one of them asked, which made her roll her eyes. "Yeah, but today, she's wearing a skirt. What kinda tomboy would wear a skirt?" the other one answered.

"Naw, I guess you're right. But still, why deciding to go girly all of a sudden?"

"Who knows? All I know is that the skirt is the only difference. She's still scowling. She even gave the eyes of death to Damien during math."

"So, she's still as scary as ever?"

"She's actually scarier now, because she looks like a girl, but hits like a boy. It's this whole 'don't judge a book by its cover'-thing."

Helga's eyebrows lifted. _Huh? I'm still intimidating even in this thing? More intimidating even? Because they're not expecting me to be strong? You're kidding! This is brilliant! Why have I never thought of it like that? It's sneaky as hell! Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee! I'm an idiot – Aaron, I could almost kiss you for this epiphany! No, wait, yuck! Never mind. Perhaps I'll pat your head or something… Yeah, that seems fair._

When Helga could hear the boys' voices fading, she sighed in relief. "All right. I think we're in the clear, head boy." She whispered and turned to look at Arnold. He had his eyes firmly shut. "Arnold?" Are you ok? Hey!"

Arnold's eyes popped open instantly. "Are you all right?" Helga asked again, but he just looked down. She looked in the same direction and noticed her hand. "Oh, sorry." She said while she removed it. He sighed in relief. It wasn't like he couldn't breathe or anything, but having at least a little part of her body away from him helped his growing problem.

Speaking of this growing problem, then Helga had been so occupied trying to make sure that the boys wouldn't notice them, that she hadn't noticed. Now that the boys were gone, she did. _Oh… whoops. Poor guy. I guess… I'm being kinda cruel to him in a different way this time. Hey… this could be fun actually._

Feeling a bit of her sadistic side come out, Helga pressed herself a little more firmly up against Arnold. His eyes went wide and he gasped a bit. "_Are_ you all right, Arnold? You seem a little… tense." She pointed out. His eyes went wider and he tried to press himself closer against the wall to get away from her. "Uh, y-yeah, I'm all right. It's just a little cramped in here."

"Cramped? I think it's kinda… snug." Helga pointed out with a smirk. Arnold gulped and pulled his head back without removing his eyes from hers. _W-What is she doing…? What's going on? Is it just me or is it really warm in here?_

"But, uh… d-didn't you just want to hide until those guys were gone…?" Arnold asked, followed by a small gulp. "Th-They're gone, so… d-don't you wanna get out of here? T-Th-The bell will probably ring soon too."

"Well, can we be entirely sure that they're gone? Maybe it'd be better if we stayed in here until the bell rings. Unless… you're uncomfortable with it?" Helga asked as she bit on her lower lip. The last question was actually more serious than she had meant for it to be.

"Uncomfortable…?" Arnold repeated with a dazed look in his eyes. "Uh… no… Uh, no… Definitely no! Th-That is not it at all. I, uh…" he continued to speak, but lost the ability to do so, when Helga's thigh shifted up in-between his legs. "Is it only me who's having a deja-vu?" she asked with a gleeful gleam in her eyes.

Arnold gulped yet again and looked away. "I-I can't help it. It's… It's not a choice. It's a… n-no-normal biological reaction." He answered. "So, you'd react the same way if it was any other girl in here with you?" Helga asked with a small frown.

"No!" Arnold answered a little loudly. Helga's eyes went a little bigger in shock and the two teens just looked at each other in silence for a couple of seconds. "Um, what I mean is… I-I'm not sure, since… since, uh…" he was desperately trying to find the right words. "I-I've never… never tried… around another girl, so I… I've never experienced something like… this… with a… Uh…"

Helga smiled in confusion. "You're making no sense, football head." She observed, followed by a small snicker. Arnold closed his eyes and groaned a bit. When he opened his eyes again, he noticed that she was still smiling like that. Something about that smile… mixed with the current situation… he could almost feel the strings connecting his brain to his heart snapping.

Arnold shut eyes tight and started shaking a little in frustration. "Arnold…? Are you all right?" Helga asked with honest concern. He didn't answer. Instead, he put his hands on her shoulders, involuntarily pushing at her a little. "Helga! I want you to know that I - "

"Arnold!" Helga shrieked, when she felt herself losing her footing because of the force in his hands. She stumbled backwards, pulling him with her. Without even thinking about it, Arnold moved his right hand up to the back of her head, and his left one forward like a buffer to protect them from the fall.

The two teens landed on the floor with a loud thud, both gasping in shock. Arnold wheezed in pain, when Helga's head smashed his hand between herself and the floor, but he also noticed how her arms had automatically wrapped themselves around him in panic.

None of them noticed how everyone around them were staring at them; they didn't even notice that there were other people. _Why… did this not hurt as much as it should?_ Helga thought and opened her eyes. Without thinking about it, she started to move her attention to her head, trying to feel if she had knocked herself unconscious or something. No, but there was something weird holding her head up from the cold floor.

"I'm sorry, Helga. You ok?" Arnold asked with big, worried eyes. Helga blinked a couple of times; still trying to figure out why she wasn't in much pain. "Uh, yeah… sorry that I pulled you along with me. Is your hand… beneath my head or something?" she asked, when she was sure she could recognize the feel of his hand there.

"Oh! Uh… y-yeah. Must have… done that subconsciously." Arnold answered with a shy smile. _So… he subconsciously… tried to protect me from the fall?_ Helga looked to her right side. _He's even used his hand as a buffer!_ She would have started squealing on the inside, if it wasn't because she noticed the crowd of students around them.

Arnold frowned when he noticed the scared look on Helga's face, and he turned around to look in the same direction as her. His eyes dilated and he lost the ability to speak. Everyone around them were snickering, hollering or just staring blankly at them.

"Way to go, Arnold!"

"So, you guys are in a SM relationship or something?"

"Yeah! Since Helga slapped him yesterday!"

"What is with this weird locker fetish?"

"And is Helga wearing a _skirt_?" a male student suddenly noticed. Helga and Arnold both looked down towards her hips, suddenly reminded of the skirt. She felt like shrieking, since during the fall, the skirt had crumbled up quite a bit until it revealed a little bit of her black panties.

Arnold, without thinking beforehand, lifted his hips from Helga's, moved his left hand to her skirt, pulled it down and then let his pelvis touch hers again to cover her as much as possible. "D-Don't worry. Y-Yo-You're d-decent now." He said with a small gulp. "Th-Thanks." She answered.

_Oh, how so very much like you, my prince! To think about my honor while we're in this situation! He really should get his priorities straight though. We kinda have a huge problem here!_ Helga thought inside her head.

"Wait, what were you guys doing in a locker anyway?" Nadine asked, appearing in the front of crowd with Rhonda next to her. "They must have been fooling around. What else could it possibly have been?" Rhonda asked and she started laughing with Nadine. Both Arnold and Helga whimpered in embarrassment, before they shouted in unison. "This is not what it looks like!"

* * *

Gerald was laughing hysterically. "I can't believe it! You two… You two are like _the_ gossip of this school now! You should hear some of the rumors about you! How Arnold is a masochist, but took revenge on Helga by making her wear a skirt, and then you guys went to fuck inside a locker! Man, my belly hurts from laughing so much!"

Both Helga and Arnold groaned at the reminder. It was lunch period by now, but the two blondes had been having quite the adventure in trying to explain to people what had happened. They had given up by now though, since they really couldn't explain what had happened. Not without it sounding sleazier at least.

Helga swung her head around before she made it fall down to the cafeteria table in front of her. "This whole day is a fucking nightmare!" she declared in a loud voice. "Hey, Helga. Looking good." A random boy passing by said. She whipped her head up. "Shut up!" she answered with a scowl and he sprinted away.

Arnold couldn't help but look towards Helga's half naked legs, while she desperately tried to pull down on her skirt. "Helga… why _are_ you wearing that?" he asked curiously. She glanced at him and then sighed. "Miriam went to wash all of my freaking clothes, so I had to steal something from Olga's room. Believe it or not, this was the least girly thing I could find." She answered and put her chin on her palm. "Ever since this morning boys have been ogling me and it's driving me crazy!"

Arnold didn't know how to feel about this situation. It didn't matter how good Helga looked in that skirt, he hated to see every single boy in the room gawking at her, practically ripping her clothes to sheds in their minds. He looked to his right and even noticed a couple of freshmen whispering, while glancing in her direction.

Arnold growled. "Your big sister don't own a pair of pants?" he asked, almost with a tone indicating that Helga hadn't been looking hard enough. She noticed his grumpy voice immediately, so she just turned to scowl at him. "If she did, then did you think I'd wear this monstrosity?"

"I don't know. Would you?"

"No, I wouldn't! Did you miss the part of me calling this day a _nightmare_ because of this skirt? You think I'm enjoying the attention of every single douchebag in the school?" Helga asked. Arnold simply shrugged and kept looking at her with big, mockingly curious eyes.

Helga's mouth opened in shock. "Excuse me? What _exactly_ are you saying here, Arnold?" she asked in an angry voice. That was the thing; Arnold had _no clue_ at what he was saying. It was like someone or _something else entirely_ had taken control of him. "Just that… I don't know- That maybe you _do_ enjoy the attention a little bit!"

"What?! No way! Why do you even… Where's this… I don't know what to…" Helga gave up talking and just stood up in frustration. "All right, Mr. High and Mighty., since you _obviously_ hate this skirt so freaking much, then tell me why it didn't seem to _bother you_ when we were in that freaking locker?!"

Arnold stood up himself. "That was different!"

"What?! How is it different?"

"Because… Because that was me!" Arnold answered. Helga's head jerked back in surprise. She narrowed her eyes, trying to make sense of that sentence. She even started to shake her head a little. "W… What? That doesn't even… I mean… How is it different just because it's you?"

Arnold rolled his eyes dramatically. "It's different because I'm not just looking at you like a piece of meat! I look at you because I'm in - "

"Arnold!" Gerald interrupted, feeling the bad kind of tension rising in the room. Both Helga and Arnold turned to look at him. Gerald shook his head rapidly at Arnold, trying to send him a message. _Not now, you idiot! Not when you're both angry!_ He tried to mouth at him. Arnold just frowned in confusion.

Helga rolled her eyes at the odd display between the boys. She lifted her eyes and started to look around. Most of the students were looking at them with amusement and wonder. She scowled at them. "What? Why is it that this is _so_ fucking exciting for you, huh? Are your own lives so boring that you need to look at others' lives to feel entertained enough to manage through your own? Forget it. I'm _so fucking _done!" she said and started walking away, while scowling at Arnold. "I don't get any of you."

Arnold kept looking at Helga as she walked out of the cafeteria. He slumped right back to his seat and let his wide head bang down to the table. "I'm an idiot… I don't know what came over me…" he muttered with a sigh.

"Jealousy is what came over you, you idiot." Gerald answered. Arnold lifted his head in annoyance. "Be happy that Phoebe's not here to hear you." he pointed out. _Yeah, as if she wouldn't say the same thing…_ Gerald thought, being the only one of the two knowing that she knew about Arnold's feelings for Helga.

Arnold lifted his head lazily from the table and started rubbing his eyes with his hands. "I fucked up again, Gerald… I keep doing that this week." He mumbled. "It's only Tuesday." Gerald pointed out. "Oh, yay, more chances of fucking things even more up… I don't get it. Sunday was _perfect_. What went wrong?" Arnold asked with another sigh. "What am I supposed to do? She even told me to stay away from her, so… _is_ there anything I can do really?"

"I don't know. I guess you… have to wait and see what she'll do… or wait and see if you snap again."

"Thanks for the great advice." Arnold answered sarcastically and banged his head on the table again.

* * *

"So, you're just gonna hide here all day?" Phoebe asked, when she found Helga sitting outside in the schoolyard, hidden behind a dumpster. "No, not all day. Only until lunch period is over. Then I'll go to my last lesson, try to avoid getting picked by the teacher and then run my way home as if Jeff the Killer was after me." She answered.

Phoebe laughed for a bit at Helga's dramatic solution to her situation. "Well, I guess that's all right, but if you don't mind my asking, Helga… then what happened between you and Arnold?" she probed. Helga looked up at her. "How do you know about that?"

"When I went to join you guys, I overheard Gerald and Arnold talking. Arnold seemed pretty upset and you were gone, so I expected those two things to have something to do with each other?"

"Thanks, captain Obvious." Helga answered with a smirk and sighed. "Well, this time it was actually _Arnold_ being the jerk and not me… I wonder if I've rubbed off on him?"

"I doubt that, Helga. What happened?"

"He… You know what; I can't even explain it! He just suddenly… snapped! He started suggesting that _I_ put on this skirt on purpose to get attention or something! And then he said something about _him_ gawking at me was different or… whatever." As soon as the words came out of Helga's mouth, she furrowed her eyebrows. She looked up at Phoebe, who was just waiting for Helga's words to sink into her own head. "… Oh… you think that… he might… just maybe…"

"Yeah, Arnold's jealous." Phoebe answered. Helga just blinked at first, trying to wrap her head around that possibility. Phoebe watched her, as she slowly started to smile, but then that smile turned into a frown again. "I don't know, Phoebs. He… seemed _ridiculously_ jealous in that case."

"Imagine if it was the other way around."

"Huh?"

"If Arnold was forced to wear… uh, some really tight, white t-shirt or something and all the girls were staring at him because of it… what would _you_ do?" Phoebe asked. Helga frowned and started talking in a childish and whimpering voice. "I'd probably use forks to remove the girls' eyeballs" she answered.

"See?"

"But that's _me_, Phoebs! We both know _I'm_ ridiculously jealous. Arnold's just… not."

"He was jealous at Arnie and Lila."

"Not _this_ much. He was mostly just sulking in a corner through the whole thing. He didn't attack Arnie _or_ Lila."

"Maybe it's because he had a _crush_ on Lila and maybe is _in love_ with you?" Phoebe suggested, knowing the truth behind her words. Helga sighed and put her chin on her arms, which were holding her knees close to her chest. _I want to believe that… It's just… after everything that's happened yesterday, then… Oh, God!_ Her eyes went wide.

"Phoebe!" Helga shrieked, scaring the Asian girl next to her. "W-What?" Phoebe asked. "I _know_ why Arnold thought I'm wearing this skirt on purpose! When we were in that locker together, I kinda… sorta… uh… flirted with him a little heavier than I usually would." She explained with a shy chuckle. "I think this skirt is making braver or something. Anyways, he might have started thinking that I just did it to _him_ because he just happened to be there. What if he thinks I'll pull more guys into the lockers?!"

"I really don't think Arnold looks at you that way."

"_Looked_, Phoebe. After what I just did, who _knows_ what he thinks of me?!"

"I still think he's just jealous." Phoebe observed with a sad smile. Helga sighed yet again and put her chin on her arms. "No matter what, then he's mad at me… I also slapped him yesterday. This isn't something I can just apologize and explain my way out of."

Phoebe and Helga were silent in a couple of seconds, before Helga let her forehead fall lazily down on her arms. "What am I supposed to do…? Everything was going _so_ well… Then all of _this_ happened. Oh, God… what if I've missed my chance with him?"

* * *

When Helga heard the bell rang, she trudged her way to her next class. She managed to drown out the voices and whistles of the male students around her without getting angry and simply went inside the classroom.

There, she saw Arnold sitting at the very front, next to where she was supposed to be sitting. _Shit. I forgot about the seats… _He noticed Helga almost instantly and glanced at her, while she sat down. _She's not even looking at me…_ He thought and sighed a bit.

"Hey, Helga. When did you become a girl?" a random boy asked a few rows behind them. Arnold glanced at Helga to look for a reaction. She furrowed her eyebrows, but didn't seem to lose her mind. He, on the other hand, already had the urge to smack him. _Why isn't she saying anything?_ He wondered with a frown.

"What? Cat got your tongue? Did you trade that big mouth of yours for the skirt or something?"

"Yeah, yeah! Like in 'The little mermaid'! She traded her voice for a pair of legs!" another boy chimed in. Arnold snickered at the reference, when he saw Helga do the same. It was ironic after all.

"Nice one, bucko, points for the clever reference." Helga said and clapped sarcastically. She noticed Arnold smiling at her, but didn't react to it. "Oh, too bad! She can _still_ talk. You know, Helga, you'd probably be the most wanted girl in school if you were mute." One of the boys pointed out.

Helga still didn't turn in her seat, but Arnold could clearly see the annoyed smile on her face. "Then it's a good thing I don't want any of you." she answered, obviously trying to compose herself. "Oh, come on, baby girl." Another boy said in a sing-song voice. "Let me be your Ken!"

That made Helga frown in confusion though. _Ken?_ She repeated inside her head. Despite Helga being a bit confused about that odd name, Arnold already knew what was coming. _Oh, boy, this guy is gonna lose his teeth for this…_

"Oh, yeah! That's right, Damien. The way she looks now, then if Helga just changed her name, then with the pink skirt, the blonde hair and the blue eyes, she'd totally be like a Barbie doll!" one of the guys said and started laughing.

Arnold gulped, as he could almost see the string in Helga's brain snap. With fury in her eyes and even in her movements, she stood up from the chair and stomped towards Damien. Before he could react, she grabbed the collar of his shirt and hoisted him up and away from his seat. "A fucking Barbie can't break you in half!" she shouted in his face and pushed him roughly towards the wall.

Damien's head and back hit the wall with a loud bang, before he stumbled down to the floor. "I am _not_ a fucking Barbie doll just because I'm suddenly wearing a skirt! No matter how I dress, I'm still me on the inside, and I can _still_ beat the living shit out of you!" Helga continued and put her foot on top of his groin.

Damien groaned in agony, though Helga hadn't really put force into it. Yet. "You wanna know what the _only_ freaking difference is between _now_ and yesterday?" she asked him before she put a bit of force into her foot. He gritted his teeth to stop himself from yelping in pain.

"The view!" Helga answered to her own question and then practically stomped into his crotch. Damien had been about to look at 'the view' as she had called it, but feeling the pain spread all the way through his spine, he couldn't help but crying out in agony.

"You should be thankful I'm not wearing stilettoes, or else this would have _really_ hurt." Helga pointed out, removed her foot and went towards her seat. Before sitting down though, she turned around. "Remember this, _all_ of you: Helga Pataki is Helga Pataki, no matter what the fuck she wears!"

Arnold's eyes were wide with wonder and shock, but mostly gleefulness. He dared to look in Damien's direction, as some of the other boys who had been talking about Helga before, tried to help him stand up.

Arnold couldn't help himself; He lifted his hand, curled it into a fist and gave a light tap on Helga's shoulder. She turned to look at her shoulder, but then up at him. "Way to go, Pataki." He said with a proud smile. She smirked back at him, but that smirk quickly turned into one of true bliss.

_Oh, my God! Why have I ever been scared of this? I like this skirt, even if it doesn't fit my stupid image. I'm still me, no matter what I'm wearing. Hell, I could be strutting around in a dress designed by Dee Dee from Dexter's lab and still be me! Life is sweet!_

* * *

When the class dismissed, Helga almost felt like bouncing. She still felt so giddy about what she had just done. It had felt like forever since she had felt like the more rude part of herself and having the chance to go all out had been almost therapeutic.

Though Helga did her best to hide her obvious happiness, Arnold noticed and chuckled at it. "Well, _someone's_ in a better mood." He whispered in her ear. She turned around to face him with a big smile. "I'm sorry to say it, but I've never felt more alive." She answered.

"Why are you sorry?" Arnold asked. Helga had been about to answer, until she noticed Damien limping out of the classroom. "Because in the process I did _that_." she answered with a small smirk and pointed towards him.

Arnold snickered when he noticed Damien. "Well… that _did_ resemble the old Helga quite a lot." He answered. "Old Helga?" Helga repeated. "Yeah. You know, the Helga from before sixth grade? When we got home from San Lorenzo, you slowly seemed to change into… well, a new Helga." He explained.

Helga smiled a bit, though she didn't agree with him. "Arnold, that's not quite true." She answered. Arnold cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean? What was wrong with my sentence?" he asked. "The new and old part." She answered.

Arnold just frowned. "I'm not following…" he admitted. Helga smiled, while she swung her bag over her shoulder. "There's no old Helga or new Helga; there's just me." She answered. They let the moment linger for a bit, before he started smiling. "Yeah… there's only one Helga Pataki."

"Thank God!" Helga said with a smile and started laughing. Arnold chuckled along with her, while they walked out of the room. While they walked together on the way home, they both decided in their minds, that even if their relationship had taken a few steps back, then that would just mean they had to work extra hard to get it back on track.

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: Sorry this one took so long! As mentioned: I had been working on my first Hey Arnold! One-shot called "A different kind of Helga." Please do check it out :3 Oh, and, yeah, I haven't re-read this through to check for mistakes… I'm really tired today, but please do tell me if you notice anything and I'll fix it. I just don't have it in me today to check everything xD**


	26. I feel like I'm in a bad porn movie

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**When Helga made a daring escape from a couple of boys, she and Arnold eventually ended up in a locker, much to Arnold's happiness but also immense fear.**_

_**Helga, feeling rather daring because of the skirt, tried to seduce Arnold, which worked a little too well. In the heat of the moment, he grabbed her shoulders, causing her to fall backwards and exposing them to the world.**_

_**A heated argument between Helga and Arnold afterwards pushed both of them several steps back towards their goal to confess their feelings. They did get a step closer though, when Helga finally snapped at one of the boys after he compared her to a Barbie doll. A smirk, a compliment and a smile got them somewhat back on track. Even if the air between them still felt odd.**_

**Author's 1st note: Ok, I have a long note for you this time, because it's important that you read this: We have gotten to the "questionable sexual" content I have been mentioning a couple of times through this. I think it's only fair to explain a bit about this, so here goes.**

**I got the idea from this story through a dream I had. As in: during a sleep dream xD What I dreamt was me being Helga and Arnold and Aaron being just two random guys that I don't exactly know in real life. When I woke up, my first thought was: "What in the hell? Where did that come from?" xD**

**Anyways, after dreaming that, then I wrote the dream down, since I usually do that for fun. Then I looked it through and was wondering how I had ended up in such a situation in my dream, and **_**then**_** I started wondering if that couldn't be a rather interesting story… and that's how I came up with a guy blackmailing a girl, who's in love with a guy she wasn't supposed to be in love with. After that, I decided to make it into an Arnold and Helga fan fiction.**

**So, to put this simple: This part of the story may NOT agree with you, but it's **_**important**_** to the story, because that's how I got the idea for EVERYTHING (which I came up with afterwards). I did wonder if I should leave it out, but then I was like: No. This is the root of the story, it's important to me to get the source of the story into it, even if some of my readers may not agree with it. So, please, you don't have to like this scenario, but don't bash my story or "throw it away" because of this one certain thing.**

**As I promised some chapters back, then I'm now giving you the opportunity to scroll down to "Author's 2nd note". In that, the EXACT thing which is gonna happen is written very boldly. No back story, no beating around it, just exactly what you can expect from the "questionable" content. If you have a feeling that what I've come up with may not be to your taste, then I recommend you to scroll down, read that and then decide.**

**Again: If you only read author's 2nd note and choose not to read the whole chapter, that's your business, I can't control what you do. What I CAN control, is whether you choose to bash the story afterwards. Whether you read this chapter or only author's 2nd note, then I will not let you bash the story because of it. It's **_**my**_** story. Don't like it? Don't read it. And now, on to the actual story! xD Whoo, that was a long author's note :P**

* * *

Chapter 26: "I feel like I'm in a bad porn movie"

Despite everything which had happened the first two days of this week, Helga and Arnold seemed to have found a steady pace yet again. They could talk normally again, but had somehow made a silent agreement: 'Let's not get ahead of ourselves at the moment.'

Their peers still hadn't forgotten the incident with Arnold and Helga crashing out of a locker together, which was also a big part of the reason for them to start a bit apart. With the exception during lunch, since Gerald and Phoebe was there too.

When this Wednesday was over, Helga was walking her way home, when she heard a voice call her name. Sighing before even confirming her guess to who the voice belonged to, she turned around. "What do _you_ want?" she asked.

Aaron smirked at Helga, when he reached her. "Oh, I would just let you know that I'd be seeing you tomorrow morning." He answered. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Because we go to the same school… right?" she asked. He cocked an eyebrow at her. "What do you think?"

"Oh, great… Already? Fine. What is it this time? While you step it up a notch and give me a push-up bra or something?"

"You don't need a push-up bra."

"Stop talking about my chest!"

"You started it!"

"Just… shut up and tell me what you have planned for me this time."

"… You kinda have to choose _one_ of them." Aaron pointed out. Helga lifted her arms, curled her hands into fists and shook them in frustration. "The latter. Now tell me… what have you planned for tomorrow?" she asked.

"I won't tell yet. Only that… I'll meet you outside your house before you go to school." Aaron answered. Helga's frown got deeper. "A surprise? Oh, yay, I just _love_ those… Anything you need from me?" she asked. _Oh, my God! Listen to me: I'm getting used to this whole 'being blackmailed' thing! Just shoot me like a sick animal already!_

"Nope. Just be outside of your house at… what, 7:50?" Aaron asked. Helga sighed and nodded. "Yeah, that sounds about right." She answered. "Fine. See you tomorrow." He said, turned around and started to walk away.

"Hey now, hold on a second!" Helga called at Aaron. He turned around. "Aren't you at least… I don't know, gonna give me a hint at what you're gonna put me through? Is it gonna be worse than the skirt thing?"

Aaron chuckled for a second, but then looked mockingly pensive. When Helga crossed her arms in impatience, he chuckled again though. "Depends on how you look at it, I guess, but… yeah, I'd got with worse." He answered and turned around again.

"Wha… Wait! I am not done with you!"

"All right, all right. You want a hint? Fine. Uh… be ready to feel something you never knew you could feel. Good enough?" Aaron asked. Helga's eyes went bulge-eyed and she felt her chin drop to the ground. Well, almost. "What are you gonna do to me?!" she asked in horror.

"Oh, I'm not gonna _do_ anything to you. I'm gonna give you something that'll do something _for_ you."

"… What? What does that even… Aaron!" Helga called, when he had once again turned around to walk away. This time, he didn't stop. She kept standing out on the streets for countless minutes, before she finally got control over her body again and continued her way home.

* * *

When Helga finally got home, and had confirmed that Miriam was indeed breathing, as she had made it a custom to check up on, she plopped down onto her bed. "Ok… let's be realistic… Aaron's just a 16 year old guy. How much damage can he do…? He's from New York; He can do a lot of damage. Oh, fuck!" she exclaimed and turned around on her bed, facing down.

_Think, Helga, old girl… Aaron's gonna give me something that'll make me feel a way, I haven't felt before… He's not gonna drug me, is he?_ Helga lifted her head from the pillow, her eyes wide and panic. Then she chuckled and smiled. "No way. He's not _that_ insane…" then her face got worried. "Is he?"

Helga groaned and let her face fall down into her pillow. _Think… If not drugs, then what else? What else could make me feel… uh… feel…_ She started to feel her eyelids get heavy. She turned around, landed on her back and stared at the ceiling. _Oh, god… I'm so tired. Aaron's driving me crazy and not the same way Arnold does… I need a nap…_

Then Helga found herself in the place between the land of dreams and subconscious desires. She had been in that place before, but not quite this way. She looked around and saw blackness. "Hello?" she yelled, which gave a loud echo, almost as if she was in a cathedral.

The darkness around Helga slowly disappeared and a bright light took its place. "Ow!" she exclaimed and closed her eyes. Then the silence emerged and the booming of a beat ran through her eyes. Feeling a pair of hands gently rub her shoulders, she turned to glance to the person behind her. "Arnold?"

Arnold, with rays of light behind his back, was smiling at her. She turned to look around again and saw everyone in her class around her. They were dancing to some sensual, high-picked beat, drinking and kissing in corners.

"Are we… in my house?" Helga asked. Arnold hushed her gently and she felt a familiar tingling sensation in her lower abdomen from feeling his breath on her neck. She felt his warm hands sneak their way down to hers and he intertwined their fingers gently.

"Arnold, what's going on?" Helga asked, already feeling out of breath. Arnold pulled her arms up and behind his neck. "Don't think, Helga…" he answered, before he put his hand on her thigh. "Just _feel_…"

Helga's whole body twitched at Arnold's touch. A huge source of energy shot through her immediately. It was a familiar feeling, but she never felt it so strongly and neither had it ever appeared so quickly and out of nowhere.

Helga shut her eyes closed, letting herself be at Arnold's mercy as his hand roamed all over her body. "Arnold!" she gasped, when she felt his hand on her bare thigh. She looked down and noticed a somewhat familiar skirt, which at some point had replaced her jeans.

"Huh…?" Helga muttered in surprise, but then saw Arnold's hand pull slightly at the belt. He started nibbling on her neck, while his hand slowly went behind the skirt. She gasped loudly and opened her eyes, only to see that people around them were looking.

"A-Arnold… e-everyone is staring." Helga said shyly and shook a little. "They can't see you." Arnold whispered into her ear in a husky voice. "They… They can't?" she asked in wonder and felt herself give in a little. "Well, both yes and no. They see _you_, but not me." He explained.

"Huh…? How is that…? Why?"

"Because I'm not here." Arnold answered. Helga felt one last bolt of pleasure run through her and then it was gone, just like that. She opened her eyes and looked around, seeing that nothing had changed, except that Arnold was gone.

"No… No, that's not fair! Am I just gonna keep feeling this way then? Arnold…? Arnold!" Helga shrieked and sat up with a gasp. Her eyes were almost popping out of her eye sockets as she looked around. She was in her room again.

Helga pulled her legs together, gasping a bit at that intense feeling between her thighs. "What in the… Where did that come from…?" she wondered aloud. It wasn't like she hadn't had sexual dreams involving Arnold before, but they had never given her such an intense feeling, when she woke up. "Ok…" she mumbled and stood up from her bed. "Enough sleeping…"

* * *

Helga _did_ go to sleep again though and yet again she found herself in an erotic dream with Arnold, in which he kept disappearing after seducing her. Finally, when her phone rang, telling her it was time to get up, she felt groggy beyond any comparison. "This is worse than hanging a hangover…" she muttered as she turned off the alarm on her phone.

Helga put her head back on her pillow, making sure to keep her eyes opened not to fall asleep again. "All right… What do these continuous dreams mean…?" she wondered aloud. "I dream that Arnold aroused me and then leaves me… What, are my subconscious telling me that… that's what I'm doing to _him_? Well, I _sorta_ did yesterday, but… then why am I not dreaming that _I'm_ doing it…? Is it revenge? Is this what those hippies call karma?"

Helga sighed deeply and forced herself out of the bed. She turned to look into her closet and noticed the pink skirt, hung up on a garment hanger. "… Hell no." she replied to her own question and went for one of her usual light blue jeans instead.

* * *

When Helga went outside, the first she saw was Aaron standing there, waiting for her. "Oh, God, I had almost happily forgotten about you." she said and closed the door behind her. "Too bad. Even if you forget me, then I'm still here. Catch." He answered and threw something at her.

Helga caught it with ease and looked at it. "… A bottle?" she questioned and cocked an eyebrow at him. "Wanna play 'spin the bottle' or something?" she asked. Aaron rolled his eyes. "You're supposed to drink it." He answered.

Helga eyed it suspiciously. It was about the size of a regular diet coke, but it wasn't labelled. The liquid inside was see-through, but that didn't make it any less suspicious. She held the bottle up. "If you're planning to drug me, I swear to God I'll- "

"I swear upon my own, my mother's, my father's, heck, even my own _grandparents'_ life that this will _not_ a drug, won't harm you or make you addicted." Aaron interrupted. Helga looked at the bottle again. "What is it?" she asked.

"You really wanna know?" Aaron asked. Helga shrugged. "You're gonna make me drink it anyways, so…" she sighed and opened it. "I guess not." She ended and started drinking from it. Almost instantly though, she stopped and started coughing. "Oh, my God! What the hell is this?!"

"Down with it all, Helga." Aaron simply ordered. Helga sighed deeply and looked at the bottle again. "I can't even describe the taste of this shit… It's like having a drink, where two-thirds of it being vodka. That's how horrible it tastes." She muttered, but started drinking.

Not too long after, when she had consumed all of it, she gasped and shook her head in dismay. "Whoo! Yuck! Get this thing away from me." She ordered and shoved the bottle into Aaron's hands. He grabbed it while smirking. "So, you feeling anything?"

Helga frowned and stood up straight, trying to feel any changes in her body. Her frown got deeper and she shook her head. "Nope. Nothing. What am I supposed to feel?" she asked. "Huh. It probably won't work right away. Give it an hour, it'll probably work by then." He answered and threw the bottle into a trashcan.

"Aren't you gonna tell me, what it's gonna do to me?"

"What's the point? You've already drank it. Besides, if I told you… I have a feeling you'd try to take the day off or something." Aaron answered. Helga stopped moving. "What… What the fuck did you make me drink?!"

* * *

By the time Helga and Aaron got to school, she still hadn't felt that much. There was _something_ a little off though. She couldn't quite put her finger on it. "You feeling anything?" Aaron asked. She shook her head. "Nope. Looks like whoever you bought that from is a fraud."

"I bet you'd like to think that. I'm pretty sure it's the real thing." Aaron answered with a smirk and suddenly lifted his arm up in the air. "Good morning!" he yelled. Helga looked in the same direction as him and saw Arnold, Gerald and Phoebe standing together near the school gates.

Helga started smiling, as she always automatically did, when she saw Arnold's face. Then a tingling sensation shot through her and she stopped walking. Aaron noticed and stopped too. "Something wrong?" he asked. She shook her head. "Uh, no. Nothing." She answered. _I guess I'm feeling weird because of those stupid dreams all through the night…_

"Good morning, Helga! Good morning, Aaron!" Phoebe greeted with a wave. Helga smiled and waved back. "Good morning, guys." She answered and stopped in front of them. "How are you guys feeling?"

"Pretty good, Pataki, and you?" Gerald asked. Helga cocked her head to the side and started scratching her head. "A little tired, honestly. Didn't get too much sleep last night…" she answered honestly.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Arnold said with a small frown. "That's rich coming from you, Arnoldo. Whose fault do you think it is?" Helga asked. He quirked an eyebrow in confusion. "Huh?" he muttered.

Helga's eyes went wide as her own words repeated inside her head. She clasped a hand over her mouth. "Uh, s-sorry…" she said with a muffled voice. "I think it's due to the lack of sleep. Ignore me, please. L-Let's just go inside."

Helga walked past the others and practically power-walked towards the front door. _What's the matter with me?_ She thought in a frenzy. Arnold turned to look at Gerald with confusion in his eyes. Gerald just shrugged though. "How would I know." He answered to Arnold's unsaid question, before they joined her in walking inside.

"Are you very tired, Helga?" Phoebe asked worriedly, wondering if something else was wrong, and hoped that since those two were walking a little further away from the boys now, Helga would be more honest. "Honestly, Phoebs," she whispered. "I've been having _a lot_ of Arnold related dreams this night…"

"Arnold related?"

"Yeah… dreams that could put me on Santa's naughty list."

"Oh, my!" Phoebe exclaimed a little loudly and put her hand to her mouth in surprise, though her big smile gave her away. "Shut up!" Helga whispered, followed by a giggle, noticing that the boys were frowning at them on confusion. Except Aaron, of course.

"So, I'm guessing your dreams were of a more… erotic nature?"

"Yes, erotic nature. Thanks, Phoebs, for censoring that for me."

"Censoring!" Phoebe exclaimed in a cheerful voice. "So when you're saying _a lot_…"

"Then I'm saying _all through the night_."

"Oh, dear. You must feel rather… uh, rather…"

"Frustrated?"

"Who's censoring now? But, yes, I meant frustrated."

"It's horrible, Phoebe, I feel like some kind of pervert. As soon as I saw Arnold, blood rushed to my… you know."

"I know. So, has this happened before?"

"Of course it has! But not all through the fucking night, and it was really intense. And, get this, it was the same scenario all that time. Arnold seducing me, and then just leaving me hanging!"

"Well, that sounds unrealistic."

"I know, right? Arnold wouldn't do something like that. Anyways, we're getting kinda off track here. What I wanna know is… have you ever experienced something like that, Phoebe? You know… one dream like that after the other?"

"Oh… honestly, no. I don't believe I've even had them as often as you even before last night."

"Great, so I'm slowly turning into a sex freak. There real question is: Where the hell did it come from?"

"… Maybe it's because of all the male attention you got yesterday? And then Arnold didn't seem to like it the same way, and that frustrated you. That'd explain the scenario too."

"Yeah… wanting Arnold's attention and not getting it. Thanks, Phoebs, that explains that. I just hope it won't continue. I'm still feeling a little odd." Helga answered and shook her whole body a bit. _I really do feel strange… I felt aroused when I woke up, but it's getting ridiculous._

"What do you think they're talking about?" Gerald asked. Arnold shrugged. "Beats me." Aaron answered. "Am I the only one who's curious?" Gerald asked. "Of course not!" the two cousins answered in unison. "But it's impossible to find out what they're talking about anyway." Aaron added.

"You think it has anything to do with Helga being tired?" Arnold asked. "Worrywart." Gerald teased, but Arnold barely heard him. _My fault…?_ He repeated. _Did I do something yesterday? Well, I did something the day before that, but… I had the feeling that we were getting back on track. What's going on?_

* * *

When the first lessons of the day were over, and the first recess had started, Helga's odd feeling just kept growing. During the class, she even had to take some oddly deep breaths from time to time. _It must be a mix of being tired and not having… 'done' anything about those dreams. Yeah, I'm just frustrated, like Phoebe and I agreed._

"You feeling anything yet?" A voice asked, before Helga could feel a hand on her shoulder. She practically jumped up into the air at the electrifying sensation. When she turned around and saw Aaron, she cringed. "Ew." She muttered and felt like cutting off her lower body for feeling like that from a touch from _Aaron_.

"I'm guess that jump means yes." Aaron declared and started walking. "Feeling what?" Helga asked and followed him. "That _thing_ you're feeling is due to the bottle I gave you earlier." He answered. She frowned, as she remembered the bottle.

Then Helga stopped walking, as she could almost feel the wheels in her head turning. They finally clicked into place and she felt her books fall out of her arms. She just stood there in the hallway, her eyes big, her heart beating fifty miles an hour and her blood boiling everywhere in her body.

"Aaron!" Helga shouted and started running towards him. He turned around, just in time for her to grab his collar and shaking him a bit. "What the fuck did you make me drink?!"

"… Basing this on your anger, I'm thinking you already figured it out." Aaron answered and gently removed Helga's hands from him. She was shaking, and she wasn't sure for what reason. If it was the anger… or something entirely different. "What did you give me?"

"You know the word 'aphrodisiac'?" Aaron asked. Helga blinked a couple of times, before feeling the heat rise in her face. "Aphrodisiac…?" she repeated, but then started whispering. "You gave me a drug for sex drive?!"

"Pretty much, yeah. Oh, and I should thank you for being my guinea pig. A friend of mine from back in New York asked me to check if it works. I can now happily text him and tell him the good news." Aaron answered and continued walking.

Helga reached for a locker to keep herself steady. _This is a nightmare! A sex drug? Is he insane? He is insane, that's not even a question! Oh, God… for how long am I gonna feel this way? All day?_ "Hey!" she yelled. "When… When does it stop?"

"Stop?" Aaron repeated and turned around with a smirk. "It's barely started. You haven't even reached the tip of the mountain."

"What? Then… it's gonna get worse?"

"A lot worse."

"You… You fucking bastard! This is torture!"

"Oh, poor baby. You know what? I'll give you a small tip." Aaron said and walked back to Helga. "The easiest and quickest way for it to go away… is simply to give into it." he added. She frowned. "Give in? What do you mean?" she asked. "Give in to what your body not only wants, but _needs_ a the moment." He answered.

"What it needs…? Oh, God! Is that really the only way? Then… Then I'm gonna be stuck feeling like this all day?" Helga asked in slight horror. Aaron shrugged. "Either that or finding someone to help you, since you won't be able to." He answered.

"Why would I not be able to?"

"You kidding? You can barely stand up without shaking. You think you can _take care_ of yourself in this state? Nu-uh. You need help. I guess you better go find Arnold." Aaron suggested and tried walking again. "Hell no!" Helga answered and shook her head, before she sat down, using the lockers behind her as leverage.

Aaron turned around with a cocked eyebrow. "Why not? If anyone, then wouldn't he be the one person you wouldn't mind seeing you like this?" he asked. Helga shook her head violently. "No! Arnold's such a… romantic and kind guy. S-Seeing me… like _this_ would scare the shit out of him."

"… You do realize that, romantic or not, he's still a guy, right?"

"Yeah, he's still a guy, but…" Helga just shook her head. "No way. I'm just gonna have to bear with it." She decided. Aaron rolled his eyes and started to massage one of his temples. "Boy, you're stubborn…" he muttered.

"What did you say?" Helga asked. Aaron smiled. "Never mind, but may I point out a few things? With the mix of these four things… lack of sleep, passionate personality, aphrodisiac _and_ tendency to pass out… I think it's safe to say that you may faint at some point, if you don't do something quickly."

Helga's eyes went wide. _Oh, my God!_ She thought as her mouth turned into a round shape, realizing the true nature of her situation. "So, chop-chop." Aaron added teasingly, before chuckling and walking away.

"I'll chop-chop your dick off!" Helga shouted at him. She banged her head against the locker. _Awful… This is a freaking nightmare! And it's gonna get worse, he says?! Oh, my God! Ok, Helga, old girl, you've tried something similar before… Remember the summer back in 8th__grade? Seeing Arnold in those swimming trunks? You had to wait the whole freaking day before we were allowed to go home. I handled that, and I can handle this too._

* * *

_I can't handle this!_ Helga thought when her second period was over and it was time for lunch. As promised, the feeling had only gotten more and more intense and she was on the verge of either giving in or fainting. She moved her way slowly towards the cafeteria, almost instantly greeted with Phoebe. She trudged her way to her and plumped down next to her at the seat, which Gerald usually sat at.

"Helga? You _do_ know that you're in Gerald's seat, right?" Phoebe asked, mostly worried about her best friend's health. Helga lifted her head to look tiredly at her. "_Please_, Phoebs, I… need to sit next to a girl, ok?" she begged. "Sure, Helga." Phoebe answered in wonder, feeling more and more worried by the second. "You sure you shouldn't go to the nurse?"

"I don't think the nurse can help me with _this_ problem, Phoebs."

"… Oh! You mean… it's about… Oh…"

"Yeah, it's about 'oh'… and it's getting worse!" Helga whispered angrily and let her head plop down to the table. "Hey, Phoebs. What's…" Phoebe looked up, only to see Gerald and Arnold walking towards their table. Gerald obviously confused by the sudden seat switch.

Phoebe lifted her hands and shook them. _Not now, sweetheart, she needs to sit next to me more than you do._ She thought. Gerald simply nodded and went to sit at Helga's usual seat, while Arnold went to his seat, looking at Helga with worry through it.

"… You ok, Helga?" Arnold asked gently, yet Helga still bolted up from the table with her eyes wide open. Everyone around the table stared at her for a couple of seconds, before she did her best to smile. "Uh, yeah… somewhat." She answered and let her head rest in her palm.

Arnold glanced at Phoebe, hoping she could give an answer. She simply shrugged though. What else was she supposed to do; Tell the truth? Yeah, Helga would love her for that. "You don't think you should go to the nurse?" Arnold suggested.

Helga snorted and turned to look at Phoebe. "You think the nurse has any medicine for this?" she asked, causing Phoebe to giggle a bit. Then Gerald's eyes went wide. "Oh, so _that's_ what's wrong with you!" he exclaimed.

Helga turned around with a scowl. "How rude! Wait… What?" she asked, when Gerald's words truly dawned on her. Both Arnold and Phoebe also turned to look at him. He leaned a little closer towards Helga. "It's that time of the month, right?"

Helga blinked once, then twice, then three times, before she grabbed a small piece of bread on Phoebe's plate and threw it at Gerald. "No! And if it was, then none of your beeswax! Phoebe," she shrieked and turned to look at her. "I thought you had learned this street dog come manners?"

"I thought I had too." Phoebe answered, mostly trying to avoid the actual subject – which would be considered a million times more embarrassing. Gerald rolled his eyes and so did Arnold, mostly because that meant he still didn't know what was wrong with Helga.

"You not gonna eat, Helga?" Arnold asked, now even more worried. Usually, Helga was the kind of girl who'd eat as much as a boy, but she hadn't even gone up to grab a glass of juice or anything. She shook her head. "I don't have an appetite." She answered. _For food, that is…_ she added in her head with a smirk.

"That won't do. Not when you're feeling under the weather. I'll bring you some food." Arnold said with a frown and stood up. "Ah, Arnold, wait, I- " Helga said, as she lifted her head and watched him walking away. "… and he's gone."

"I could've told you he'd get you food." Gerald said with a smile. Helga smiled too. "Yup, I could have told myself that too actually. That's just the way Arnold is." She answered and kept glancing at Arnold, while he grabbed a food tray.

Phoebe and Gerald glanced at each other, as they watched Helga smiling dreamily at Arnold, not realizing she was doing it so openly for once. Then she felt something tingling inside of her and she shook her head violently. _No!_ She banged her head down to the table. _Don't think like that! Oh, my God, I don't even like whip cream!_

Not too long after, Helga heard Arnold walking back to the table. "Here you go." He said with a smile and put the food tray in front of her. She lifted her head and eyed the food. She snickered almost immediately and tried to cover her giggle behind her hand.

"What's wrong?" Arnold asked with a confused smile. Helga simply shook her head, trying to stifle her laughter. She eyed all the oblong shaped food and went for the banana, mostly to convert her thoughts to Phoebe.

While Helga started peeling it, she glanced at Phoebe, who after a few seconds got the reference, and had to use both her hands not to laugh. _Well, at least this is sorta fun… I feel like I'm in a bad porn movie, but it is kinda fun._ Helga thought as she started to eat the banana.

* * *

**Authors 2nd note:**

**What will happen: Aaron will give Helga a very strong, aphrodisiac drug, which will basically turn her into a very, **_**very**_** aroused girl through this day. The "worst part" will be in the next chapter though.**

**First of all: Yeah, I know aphrodisiacs aren't this strong whatsoever! If there is such a strong aphrodisiac out there, then please tell me! xD Just remember that it's all those four things Aaron mentions that makes this a very heavy situation for Helga, though I made her have fun with it too.**

**Also, I'd like to point out that I actually CENSORED my own dream here. In my actual dream, I had been forced to wear some kinda… vibrating panties or something O.o I made Aaron give Helga an aphrodisiac instead, thinking it'd be less heavy or something :P**

**Again: I'm way too tired to re-read this through… Again! xD I'll re-read and correct mistakes for both chapter 25 and chapter 26 tomorrow! I'm heading to bed :P**


	27. A way too fun opportunity

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**When Helga finally seemed to get a peace of mind, Aaron presented her a bottle of some unknown liquid. Without knowing exactly what it was, she drank the whole thing and went to school.**_

_**During the former night, Helga didn't get much sleep due to some Arnold related dreams of a more erotic nature. Though this time they made him seem selfish. Perhaps it was prediction of what today would be?**_

_**Through the day, Helga started feeling more and more aroused. She was blaming it on the locker incident from the day before, mixed with the dreams and mixed with the tiredness. She didn't realize that the liquid in the bottle had a major part to play.**_

_**Despite truly feeling like a hormone-filled teenager for not the first time in her life, Helga managed to even have a little fun with it, knowing that Phoebe knew of her former dreams with Arnold. At least she had an accomplice who somewhat knew what was going on.**_

**Author's 1st note: Just a little pre-teaser to what you'll read in this chapter: TWIST! xD That's all I'm gonna say. You're getting nothing more outta me! xD I am saying one small thing though: Aphrodisiac IS the worst sexual thing Aaron will do :P**

* * *

Chapter 27: "A way too fun opportunity"

_Damn it, Aaron was right, this is getting worse and worse…_ Helga thought to herself and shook her head to try to shake away that little bit of dizziness in her head. Before she knew it, she felt a hand land on her shoulder. She gasped loudly, as it sent a serious bolt of electricity through her and she turned to look at the person.

"Helga, I have something for you." Lila whispered to Helga. She frowned a bit. She and Lila weren't exactly the best of friends, though she didn't really despise her as much as she once had. "What is it?" Helga asked and eyed Lila's hand, which were clutching something. "Here." She answered and opened Helga's hand. She gave her a small, round, white pill and closed Helga's hand around it.

Helga opened her hand immediately though and cocked an eyebrow at it. She looked up at Lila, who just smiled in that usual friendly way. "What is… this for?" Helga asked. Lila moved a little closer. "It's a painkiller. I have mine too right now, so I always carry them with me. You seemed to be in ever so much pain, so I figured I'd give you one."

"… Painkiller… Have what…? Oh! You mean… Oh, no, Lila, I don't…" but then Helga stopped talking. _Painkillers? I wonder what they'd do to the aphrodisiac… If I went numb from these pills, then maybe I wouldn't be able to feel the aphrodisiac either._ "Thanks, Lila. I hope this will help with the cramps."

"I hope too, Helga. Feel better soon, ok?" Lila said with her sugary smile and walked away, still trying to seem as discreet about the exchange as possible. Helga shook her head in amusement and swallowed the pill. _I admit it. I can't hate you anymore, Lila… even if you did misunderstand my situation the same way Gerald did._

Almost as soon as Helga started walking again, she began feeling dizzy. "Whoa!" she exclaimed, before she fell a little backwards into someone's chest. "Are you feeling ok, Helga? You _sure_ you shouldn't go to the nurse? You look really flushed." Arnold asked, while trying to keep the blonde next to him steady. She panted a bit as she simply shook her head, which made him frown. "But… Helga, you - "

"No, Arnold, I… It's nothing, ok? I'm just really, _really_ tired… I just… Can I lean on your shoulder for a bit?" Helga asked, feeling heat rise in all of her body simply for asking that. _It's pretty innocent, right? There's nothing wrong with leaning on his shoulder a bit… no matter how it might make me feel. It's still a guiltless action, right?_

"S-Sure, Helga." Arnold answered and started rubbing Helga's shoulder a bit, while they walked. _She normally wouldn't ask permission for something like that… Normally, she wouldn't do this to begin with. She must really feel bad. I've never seen her so weak before. In a way, it's kinda scary; Seeing Helga G. Pataki feeble._

Helga instantly laid her head on Arnold's shoulder and even that little bit of body contact made her feel like she was on cloud 9. _Oh, my God, how much more perverted can this aphrodisiac make me? Just from having my head in his shoulder, my heart is leaping…_

"Th-That tickles, Helga!" Arnold said with a small, giggling voice. Helga slowly opened her eyes and realized that she had moved her nose to the crook if his neck. She jumped back with a yelp. "S-Sorry! I-I, uh, I didn't realize what I was doing." She explained and gave a nervous laugh. "I think this whole 'being tired' doesn't really agree with me."

With those words, Helga practically sprinted away from Arnold, who was left a little dumbfounded and even with a small pout on his lips. _I didn't say I didn't like it…_ He thought with a sigh and started following her; since they were going to have math together.

Helga took a deep breath as she sat down in her seat. She watched nervously, as Arnold sat next to her, noticing how he was eyeing her. _Great,_ she though. _He must think I've become a freak of nature or something. Seriously? Am I that sexually weak? I can't even handle this little bit of… arousal?_

The reason for Helga's pause in her own sentence was due to the fact, that Arnold had just put his bag down to his left side and bend down for it, exposing the hem of his jeans. As soon as he sat up again, she turned around, as if expecting him to be able to read her mind.

_I guess not! Seriously though? Frist whip cream and now… this? I'm not even interested in people's backsides! This aphrodisiac isn't just making me aroused, it's making me downright unusually perverted! Oh, my God, I've become a boy…_ she thought with a small snicker.

Helga didn't know that Arnold was now smiling. _She seems a little better… or more like she's handling all this with a smile. I hope she'll make it through math though. She's not bad at it or anything… More like she seems to get sleepy through it…_

* * *

An hour into the lesson Arnold's fear became reality. Helga seemed to be about to doze off several times, her face was flushed red and she seemed to have trouble breathing a bit. He didn't know that it was only on the outside that she seemed to be in pain.

_Oh, my God! Get outta my head already, Dark Arnold!_ Helga thought for the thousand time and tried to shake the image of Arnold, wearing only a pair of jeans, out of her head. _This is horrible! This aphrodisiac is making my already vivid imagination a million times more perverted and the worst part is: I'm loving these images it gives me, but I can't do shit about it! Please be over already, teacher! Come on!_

Helga took a deep breath and started digging her fingernails into the flesh of her thighs. She wanted to touch herself so badly, that she almost did it. Until the teacher suddenly called on her. "Helga Pataki, do you want to go to the nurse?" she asked. Helga's head bolted right up, exposing her blushing cheeks. She shook her head though.

"Then, would you please come up here and solve this?" the teacher asked and extended the chalk piece in her hand. Helga's eyes went wide. _Standing up? Now? No! I-I'll collapse. I'm sure of it!_ She thought in a panic. "Now, hold on" Arnold chimed in, making everyone look at him. "Helga might not feel so bad, that she thinks she needs to go to the nurse, but she still feels bad. Can't someone else do it? I can come up."

"No, that is quite all right. Helga must make a choice. Participate in the class or go to the nurse." The teacher answered and looked at Helga, as if asking her. Helga glanced at Arnold for a second, who looked more than slightly nervous. She sighed and stood up. She wobbled only a little bit, but managed to get ahold of the chalk and started scanning the numbers on the board.

This kind of math problem was usually no problem for Helga, but the numbers in her head kept becoming other things. The number 8 for example, chose to spin until it looked like an infinity symbol, which then turned into Arnold's head.

_You're kidding…_ Helga thought as she shook her head violently, causing the headache to become worse. _This is the whole love potion thing all over again. Only worse._ She thought and eyed the numbers._ Ok, let us see… If X is… uh… If X is… then, uh…_

Helga lifted the chalk in her hand and let it touch the board. The tension in her body and in the room was unbearable. It was as if everyone could see right through her, as if everyone could see how corrupted her mind had become, and being transparent was _not_ something she liked.

With determination, Helga wrote her answer on the board and slowly turned to look at the teacher for approval. She nodded and held her hand out to Helga. "Very good, Helga. Sick or not, you're a smart, young lady." She complimented.

Helga simply handed her the chalk, not really capable of accepting a compliment whatsoever at the moment. _I think the painkiller has done nothing but make me dizzy… Really dizzy. Note to self: Aphrodisiac must not be mixed with painkillers. This can't possibly be because of the aphrodisiac, I'm starting to feel downright sick._

"Uh, Helga? Are you really sure you don't want to go to the nurse, if only to lay down a little bit?" the teacher asked, now having a worried expression. Helga felt her eyes get blurry, as she tried looking at the teacher, though even just that was hard. It was like her neck was barely working anymore. _What am I, the crooked man?_

"Uh… I-I…" Helga muttered, but then shook her head slowly. She took a couple of steps towards her seat, but then stopped short. _This is too much… no sleep, dreams about Arnold, aphrodisiac, painkillers, blackmail… Oh, God…_ and then her eyes rolled back in her head.

"Helga!" Arnold shouted and stood up with his arms held out. Going down to his knees, he grabbed Helga as she fell forward into his arms. An army of shouts in panic and in shock filled the room, but all Arnold could manage was to try to shake Helga into consciousness. "Helga! Come on. Helga… Helga!"

Helga slowly fluttered her eyes open. Arnold sighed in relief for a second, but he still wore a worried expression. "Will you _now_ go to the nurse, please?" he asked with pleading eyes. She smiled a bit and nodded.

Knowing full well, that Arnold would carry her, Helga snaked her arms around his neck. He smiled at her very precise prediction, while he lifted her up. He walked to the door and could hear the teacher about to speak to him. "I'm taking her to the nurse. I don't care if it counts as me skipping class." He said and then walked out with those very true words in his wake.

* * *

"Stress and… malnutrition?" Arnold repeated with a deep frown, followed by a gulp. The nurse turned around in her chair. "Yes. It seems like Ms. Pataki hasn't been eating properly for the last couple of days. I'd say she hasn't eaten _anything_ really."

_I wonder if that banana she ate at lunch was the only thing she's eaten since… Wait. Couple of days? As in since Monday….? Oh, no._ Arnold thought and leaned back in his chair. "Can I go talk to her?" he asked. The nurse nodded, and he stood up to go into the room next door. Helga was lying in a bed, sleeping peacefully. He sat down on a chair next to her and sighed.

"What in the world happened? Helga, you're smarter than this. Not eating and sleeping. Is… Is it because of this whole poem-slap-me-getting-jealous-thing? Oh, God, listen to me…" Arnold mumbled and sighed again. He let his hands hold his wide head up, as he stared down towards the floor.

A groan from the bed made Arnold's head perk up. Helga was arching her back under the covers, before throwing them off her with her legs. "Way too fucking hot… Oh, God, my body's aching! I feel like I was hit by a truck…" she muttered and sat up slowly with her eyes still closed.

Arnold knew that he should've made his presence known, but something made him stay quiet. "I'm gonna _kill_ Aaron for this…" Helga continued. _What? Aaron?_ He repeated in his head and caught himself leaning back to get out of her eyesight. "I should get ahold of some of that fucking aphrodisiac myself and pour it into _his_ drink! See if he thinks it's funny when it's him!"

Arnold felt the wheels in his brain spin. "What?" he yelped in shock. Helga shrieked, as she turned around to see him sitting with a dumbfound look. "Arnold! W-What are you doing here? Did you…" she stopped talking as her eyes went bigger than teacups. _Oh, God… Arnold just… Arnold just heard… m-me…_

Arnold's eyebrows furrowed slowly. "Ok, that's it, Helga… I've been suspecting something weird going on between you and Aaron, but nothing like this… It's time to come clean. What is he doing to you? And what in the world is aphrodisiac?" he asked.

Helga just kept staring at Arnold with big eyes. _It's over… I'm done. I wonder if I can change my identity and just move out of town? Just… Oh, God…_ She thought and let herself plop down onto the bed. She lifted one of her arms and used it to cover her eyes, while she bit on her lower lip.

"Helga… Please. I… When Aaron first got here, I… I was starting to suspect… _something_, but… all things considered, it seems like I sorta forgot… but with everything you just said… What's going on?" Arnold asked worriedly.

Helga took a deep breath and shook her head. "I… I can't tell you…" she answered, but that just made Arnold's frown deeper. "Helga, I don't want to go through the whole FTI thing again. We both know I'm not giving up until you admit what's going on. Please, I want to help you. The nurse told me that you fainted due to stress and malnutrition! Are you kidding me? Helga!"

"I got it already!" Helga shouted and glared at Arnold, but he was standing his ground. She took a deep breath. "I, uh… What just happened… Uh, it was a mix of… a lot of things… Stress… malnutrition… lack of sleep, a-and… and… aphrodisiac."

"And what is aphrodisiac, Helga? Are you… taking drugs?"

"No!"

"Then what is aphrodisiac?!"

"It's… Uh… Oh, God…" Helga muttered and turned on the bed, so she was facing the wall rather than Arnold. "Helga! Don't cut me out!" he begged and touched her shoulder to shake her a bit. To her relief, it didn't sent a shock through her. At least not an unusually big one like the ones through this day. _The aphrodisiac must have worn off._

"I'm not cutting you out! I'm… I just can't look at you while I say this… ok?" Helga asked and pulled the covers over her body and head. "So… you're gonna tell me what's… going on?" he asked gently, while removing his hand from her shoulder. He could see this covers move, since she was nodding. "Ok… then please tell me: What's Aaron doing to you?"

Helga took a very deep breath, before talking beneath the covers. "Uh… f-first of all… Aphrodisiac is some kind of… substance which… uh… which, uh… increases sexual drive… so to speak." She said and gulped a bit, while waiting for that information to sink in.

Arnold just frowned in confusion. "A substance… which causes… Oh… why would you… Wait, didn't you say that Aaron…" and then his eyes just went big, even if he still didn't fully understand what was going on. "Uh… continue, please. I… don't know what to say yet."

"A-All right… Ok, uh… bot-bottom line is… uh… I don't even know where to start. I, uh…" Helga muttered but then took a deep breath again. _Just… say it, you stupid… bitch! Come on, Helga, old girl, you can say this! He's gonna find out anyway!_ "The first day Aaron arrived, he overheard me talking about something, and he's been blackmailing me ever since. This whole 'take-some-aphrodisiac-thing' was part of the blackmail!" she said as quickly as she could and then took a deep breath to calm down her shaking nerves.

Arnold didn't say anything. He was barely thinking anything. "… Huh." He muttered, causing Helga to frown under the covers. _Huh…? Did I break him or something?_ She wondered and dared to turn around and sneak a peek from under the covers.

Arnold was just sitting with a very pensive look on his face. It seemed like he was thinking so hard that his head was starting to hurt. Helga removed the covers from her body and sat up. "Arnold…? Are you… all right? Has football head dot exe stopped working or something?" she asked.

For a second, it seemed like Arnold didn't register that Helga was event talking to him, but then – still wearing a frown – he started smiling and turned to look at her. "What?" he asked with a disbelieving voice before chuckling. She smiled in relief. "Well, at least I didn't destroy you."

"No… but… I'm still trying to… wrap my head around it." Arnold admitted, removed his smile and went to grab his head, still looking as though he was growing a serious migraine. "Let me… get some things straight, ok…? Just answer my questions and nothing more. Just yes and no, ok?"

Helga nodded and gulped a bit. _I can't believe it… I told him. I told Arnold about the blackmailing. Well, sorta, he doesn't know what it's about… but still._ She thought as she took a deep breath. "Fire away."

"Ok… first of all, Aaron overheard you talking about… _something_… and decided to… to, uh… to tell you: Do what I say or I'll tell on you?"

"Yes, something like that."

"… That's all I need to know, really." Arnold then said and stood up from the chair. "What? Where are you going?" Helga asked in confusion. He stopped walking and turned to look at her with a nonchalant look in his eyes. "To kill Aaron."

Helga's eyes went wide. It wasn't until Arnold started walking again, before his words truly dawned on her. "What? No, Arnold! That is _so_ out of character!" she said and put her feet to the ground without standing up though. "No, it's not!" he answered and turned around. "Haven't I always been on your side, Helga?"

Helga felt her heart leap with joy for a second, before Arnold turned around again. "No! Arnold, you'll make it worse!" she said and stood up. She managed to take a couple of steps, before she felt her head spinning. "Arnold, I'm gonna - - "

Arnold turned around to see Helga, taking a very crooked step towards him. He quickly grabbed her arms to hold her steady. "You idiot! You're still recovering. What were you thinking?" he asked. "I had to stop you, _you_ idiot! If you tell Aaron that you know, then who knows what he'll do to me? Or _you_ for that matter! I'm not pulling you into this mess!" she answered.

"Then what am I supposed to do, huh?! I can't just sit here, knowing that someone is hurting you, especially not my own cousin! I can't just sit and watch, Helga."

"… Then… Then, uh… become a secret ally or something. I don't know!" Helga said and grabbed his collar in a begging manner. "_Please_, Arnold… _Please_ don't tell Aaron that I told you. I don't know what he's thinking at all, and I don't know what he might be planning _next_. I don't wanna risk you getting hurt because of me! I won't allow it!"

Arnold stared into Helga's pleading eyes, as she held his collar. He put his hands on top of hers, ready to argue against her, but then her grip around his collar got tighter. "_Please…_!" she begged, which just made him sigh in reluctance. "All right… If you really think it'd only make it worse."

Helga smiled in relief and wrapped her arms around Arnold's neck. It almost made him unable to breathe, but he still wrapped his own arms around her waist. "I'm _still_ gonna help you any way I can… and you can't stop me." He muttered in an almost childish manner. She giggled a bit and hugged him a little tighter. "Thank you… Really."

_Oh, God… It feels like a huge load on my shoulders has been lifted. I don't know how much Arnold can do for me, but knowing him, he'll find a way to help me through this…_ Helga thought thankfully.

"Helga… Can I ask something?" Arnold asked. Helga took a deep breath and nodded in his chest. _I probably shouldn't ask… It's something she's really desperate to keep hidden, but… I kinda hope it's different, if it's me who's asking…_ "What is… that secret?"

Arnold felt Helga twitch in his arms. "Uh… Arnold, I… I can't say." she answered. "… Oh…" Arnold muttered, feeling more than a little disappointed. "But I… I do _want_ to tell you… at some point." She added. "Just not… not like this. Not because Aaron's blackmailing me, ok?"

Arnold let Helga's words sink in and then he smiled. "Ok… that's fine, Helga. It's your secret, and I'll help you keep it for as long as you want to." He answered and leaned back, so he could look at her. She was smiling at him with such sincerity that he almost felt like he was falling in love all over again.

Arnold felt something odd in his heart though. _With all this going on with her… stress and malnutrition because of the blackmailing… then it's probably a good idea to keep my feelings hidden a little longer. It could end up just complicating things even further… but as soon as Aaron's ass is back in New York, I'm telling her, damn it!_

"Knock-knock!" a voice outside the door said, as the sound of knocking echoed. Helga and Arnold turned around to look at the owner of the voice, who turned out to be Aaron. Helga glanced at Arnold, who was already scowling, but she started pinching his back to make him stop. "Ow." He mumbled inaudibly, but caught onto her message quickly.

"How are you feeling, Helga?" Aaron asked with a small smile. Arnold had a very hard time trying not to scowl at that. _Don't feign interest in her well-being! You're blackmailing her! If you really cared, then you would just keep her secret!_

"I'm… dizzy. Dizzy and so very, very tired. Could you help me back to the bed actually?" Helga asked Arnold, who nodded instantly. They turned around and walked back to the bed, knowing full well, that Aaron was following them.

When Helga was safe in bed, she dared to smile a little at Arnold, who smiled back. "Hey, Arnold, could I talk with Helga for a second?" Aaron asked. Arnold turned to look down at Helga for answer. "What? Can't you think for yourself, football head?" she asked teasingly. "It's ok."

Arnold smiled at Helga's much better mood. "All right. I'll see you later, Helga, I'll follow you home, ok?" he said. She was about to argue against him, but as she glanced at Aaron, she realized what he was doing and smiled. "All right. Thanks. See you." she answered and waved a little at him.

"See you later, Aaron." Arnold said with a very convincing smile and went to walk out of the room. _Huh, so football head can act if he really wants to._ Helga thought proudly and watched as he walked out. "See you." Aaron said, and then Arnold was gone.

"So, you told him, huh?" Aaron asked with a smirk. Helga's whole body bolted as she looked at him. "How… How in the holy hell did you know?!" she asked in pure shock. "I didn't. You just admitted it." He answered with a wink and sat down.

Helga groaned loudly and let her head fall down to her lap. "I can't believe I fell for a trick I practically invented… but there must have been something that gave it away, right?" she asked. "Yeah. Arnold scowling at me was a pretty good hint." Aaron answered.

"So much for being an ok actor, Arnold… Ugh… so? Is there some sort of penalty involved for this?"

"No, not really. Except I can't really blackmail you anymore."

"Huh? Why not?"

"Because you told him, right?"

"No. I just told him you were blackmailing…" then Helga stopped talking, but it was too late to pull back her own words. Aaron was staring at her in disbelief. "You're kidding…" he muttered and snickered. "You just told him I'm blackmailing you and that was it? That's just cruel!"

"Pot calling the kettle black, don't you think, Mr. Blackmail?"

"Touché, Helga. So, Arnold knows you have a secret that I know, but you didn't tell him what it was?"

"… No."

"That could have been the perfect moment to tell him though."

"The hell it would be!"

"How not?"

"I am _not_ telling Arnold about something like that out of force! I'll tell him when… when the time is right. When I'm not so scared anymore." Helga finished and looked away from Aaron, whom she could hear sigh. "Well, that's your deal. I don't really care if Arnold knows about the blackmailing, but let's not tell him I know that he knows, ok?"

"I don't get why, but fine. See if I care. What did you want anyway?"

"I just asked how you were feeling, didn't I?"

"Oh, like if you really care about _my feelings_!"

"Believe it or not, but I do. Doesn't matter if you don't believe me though. You seem to just need to get home and rest, so my mission here is done." Aaron said and stood up. Helga rolled her eyes and leaned against the wall behind her.

"Oh, wait. I do have a couple of confessions though." Aaron said, as he had been just about to walk out of the room. Helga frowned. _Confessions? What the hell could he possibly have to confess?_ She wondered. "I took the liberty to ask the nurse what was _wrong_ with you, and she mentioned malnutrition. Have you been eating poorly?"

"When do I ever _not_ eat poorly?" Helga wondered sarcastically. "Helga, that's serious. You need to eat and sleep. I have a feeling you would have fainted today anyhow because of that. Maybe that's also why you tend to faint so much?" Aaron asked.

Helga growled. "You're getting too close to home now, Aaron, and you promised not to do that since the whole poem thing." She pointed out. Aaron lifted up his hands in mock defense. "Fair enough, but you still need to eat. Listen, I do feel _a little bad_ about this whole thing."

"What whole thing? _This_?"

"Not just this. The whole blackmail thing, though I have no intention of stopping. Let me take you out to dinner tonight. On me, of course. You need the food."

"… I'm not going on a date with you." Helga answered very simply. Aaron rolled his eyes. "Who said anything about a date? Can't two friends go out and eat together? My God, for a girl with very low confidence, you sure are presumptuous."

"We're not friends either!"

"All right. Then look at it this way: I need to keep my victim well functioned, right? Take this as another blackmail." Aaron answered. Helga frowned a bit, but then she could feel her stomach rumble. She automatically held both her hands to it to make it stop, but it wasn't like she could cover it up by then.

Before Aaron even had the chance to laugh, continue talking or whatever he had opened his mouth to do, Helga spoke first. "Fine. All right. You win, but I'm warning you: I'll eat the most expensive thing there!"

Aaron simply chuckled. "That's fine with me. A place you'd prefer?"

"… Chez Pierre."

"Chez Pierre? Why does that sound… Oh, wait, isn't that the restaurant you've been to like a million times?"

"First of all: A million times is _highly_ exaggerated. Second of all: _No_. You're thinking of Chez Paris, the one across Chez Pierre. I've never been to Chez Pierre before. All things considered, I think it's time to try that place out too."

"Fine with me. When do you want me to pick you up?"

"I can walk myself, you know."

"With your health? I don't think so. Listen up: You'll go home, sleep, get dressed and I'll pick you up at 7pm, ok?" Aaron asking, with a tone indicating that it wasn't really a question. Helga wanted to argue against him, but was far too tired to do so. "_Fine_. Have it your way."

"Thanks. I like it my way." Aaron said with a smirk and went towards the door. "Now, hold on!" Helga called. He stopped and turned. "What?" he asked. "Didn't you have another confession to make?" she asked.

"… Oh, right! Remember how I told you there was aphrodisiac in that bottle I gave you?"

"Uh, yeah, of _course_ I do… What about it?"

"You, uh… ever heard of the term 'placebo'?" Aaron asked. Helga frowned and let the word roam in her brain for a couple of seconds. "Oh, yeah… It's this kind of phenomenon where you tell someone you're giving them medicine, so they think they will feel better, but it's actually just a vitamin pill or something, and yet they feel better anyway, because they believe they will… right?"

"Yeah, that's right." Aaron answered and simply kept look at Helga, waiting for her to get it. Her eyebrows slowly furrowed and then her eyes narrowed. "Wait… why are you talking about placebo?" she asked. He shrugged. "Try and figure that out for yourself." he answered and walked out of the door. "See you tonight."

Helga kept staring at the white door, as Aaron closed it behind him. _Placebo… Tricking someone into believing something will happen and then it does… Wait… Oh, my God! That fucking bastard! He tricked me!_

"AARON!"

Aaron stopped out in the hallway, hearing Helga's booming voice ringing through almost all of the school. He snickered loudly. "Oh, God. I'm so sorry, Helga… but that was a way too fun opportunity to pass. See you tonight."

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: Bet you didn't see that one coming, did you? *Wink-wink* Placebo aphrodisiac! It was all in her head, that's how strong placebo can be :P**

**Anyways! I'm sorry to say that the next chapter won't be up until at least Wednesday. It's my dad's birthday and he lives a little far away, so I'm going to be away for four days :P I figured I should at least upload this before I disappear xD I'll be home a Tuesday, but I don't know when and I'm also having my first driving lesson in the dark, so I don't have much time that day :P**

**Also a little explanation: I guess some of you are wondering why I've become a little slow? xD It's very simple: When I first started writing, I didn't really have much else to do as such (except for a driving lesson here and there) I still have driving lessons, but now my driving test is getting so very close, so I'm studying a bit too. Today I was up at 6am (which is very early for me, considering my schedule is SO not tight with school or anything like that xD) to go to a track to practice skidding. Very stressful for me, since it means to simulate accidents and I'm like terrified of those xD Anyhow! I will see you guys at Tuesday! :P**


	28. I have to do this just once

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**As Helga's mixed feelings of both pleasure and frustration simply grew and grew, she ended up with popping a painkiller Lila gave her, who believed Helga had cramps due to her period.**_

_**During class though, Helga finally collapsed, as she felt something she never quite coped with in a good way: Feeling see-through. Arnold carried her to the nurse and overheard her complaining to herself about Aaron. It ended up with her admitting almost everything to him: The blackmailing, but not what it was about.**_

_**To Helga's annoyance – at least mostly annoyance – Aaron overheard them talking and now knows that she told Arnold almost everything. In exchange though, he offered her a proper dinner, since her reason to collapse was also due to lack of food and stress, and he also admitted that there was no aphrodisiac whatsoever in that drink he gave her earlier that day. It had all been in her head.**_

**Author's 1st note: Hey guys! Sorry about the hiatus! But if anyone's interested, then I had fun at my dad's :P We went to a Thai restaurant at his 58th birthday – First time he ever tasted Thai food. He's not a chicken when it comes to food, but he is so very, very Danish (with a lot of German in there xD) so he usually stays away from foreign food, unless I force him into a restaurant which serves that xD He even just ordered the same thing as me. He didn't dare to order anything else -.- Bawk-bawk-bawk! Oh, well! :P**

* * *

Chapter 28: "I have to do this just once"

As Arnold went outside to let Helga and Aaron talk in peace, he felt his back slam against a locker and his butt crash on the tiles beneath him. He kept looking down, focus on his breath and think about the information he had just been provided. _Facts straight: Helga's being blackmail by Aaron, and he's making her do… all sorts of things. She only mentioned the aphrodisiac. A… substance to increase sexual drive… which would mean… that all through this day, with the rest of us thinking she was sick, she was actually h… hor… aroused! Let's call it aroused. That's a fine word. Thanks, Helga, for that two-dollar word._

Arnold felt his insides twinge and his cheeks redden at the second. "Oh…" he muttered lamely and started scratching his skull. _That's really… I don't even know what it is… That must have been painful. Feeling like that all day…_ thinking that, he started remembering the one time he had felt a similar problem.

* * *

_It had been in 8th grade, just as puberty had truly kicked in and during the summer. It was the very last day and their teacher had decided to take them to the beach. Arnold had discovered his feelings for Helga some years ago and felt mostly giddy about going to the beach with her. He had never realized that hormones would have kicked in and ruined the entire day for him._

_Arnold had been sitting with some of the other boys in the sand, just chatting a bit, as they waited for the girls to finish getting undressed so to speak. "I bet Rhonda looks really good in a bikini." Sid had said out of the blue. Not truly out of the blue, though, since every boy was thinking in the same way._

"_I think so too, but I think Miss Lila will be the finest of them all." Stinky answered and some of the boys agreed. Arnold kept looking in the direction of the girls' dressing room. He felt a little perverted at being so excited about such a simply thing, though he didn't truly know why he felt so eager about it. He didn't know at that age at least._

"_What about you, Arnold?" Curly asked. "Huh?" Arnold muttered absentmindedly, as he turned around to look at the other boys again. "Who do you think will look best in a swimsuit?" Curly asked yet again._

"_Uh… I-I don't know. I think… they'll all look good, I guess." Arnold answered lamely, as he scratched his neck in embarrassment. He didn't want to admit that he hadn't given much thought to how the other girls besides Helga would look._

"_Ever the gentleman. Not favoring a single one of them." Gerald teased and poked Arnold's arm with his elbow. The boys laughed and Arnold made one last glance over his shoulder, before laughing along with them._

"_How do you guys think Helga will look?" Eugene wondered pensively, with the ever-pleasant smile on his face. "Oh, God, don't remind me!" Harold answered and covered his eyes mockingly. "I'm sure the image will bring me nightmares!"_

_The boys laughed, while Arnold frowned. "I don't know, you guys, she could be an ugly duckling turning into a beautiful swan." Eugene said with absolutely no sarcasm in his voice, yet his sentence brought nothing but laughter. "I think Eugene might be right." Arnold muttered in an almost childish way._

"_Yeah! Haven't you noticed how much Helga has, you know, grown?" Gerald asked as he wiggled his eyebrows. The boys stopped laughing and almost looked thoughtful at that statement, while Arnold felt his insides cringe for two reasons: One, he had definitely noticed. Two, he had hoped the other boys hadn't._

"_That may not have been exactly what I have meant, but that's definitely a sign! I think she'll be just as beautiful as her big sister." Eugene said with a smile. The other boys seemed skeptical though. "Naw," Harold finally said. "I think Helga will be the same forever."_

"_Oh, come on, you guys." Arnold said with a small frown. "Oh, man, here we go…" Gerald muttered with a well-knowing smile. The other boys smiled in the same way, knowing that an Arnold preach was on its way._

_To everyone's almost instant notice though, the girls were walking in their direction at this point. Some boys were snickering already, while others feared what Helga's reaction might be to whatever Arnold would say in her defense._

"_Helga may be a little rough around the edges, but hasn't she done a lot for all of us in the end? She's also a really great quarterback for our team, isn't she? Strong, dependable, and hasn't she sorta mellowed since we came back from San Lorenzo? I personally think that Helga's really - - "_

"_I'm what, paste for brains?" Arnold heard Helga's voice ask, just before he could see her face turned upside-down in front of him. He yelped a little, as he felt her long, blonde hair tickled his chest and he saw her azure blue eyes so very close to his own. He, unfortunately to himself, also noticed something half in front of Helga's face… or rather two somethings._

"_Uh… n-no-nothing." Arnold stuttered and chuckled nervously. "Hmm…" Helga straightened her back and went out of his view. He slowly turned around to see her. She was standing with her arms crossed beneath her chest and was eyeing him sarcastically. "That sounds fishy, but, hey, since it's the last time I have to look at your stupid football head until fall, Arnoldo, I guess I'll let it slide." She added with a smirk._

_Arnold didn't really register Helga's usual taunt though, because all he saw was… well, her. A lot of her, or at least more than usual. She was wearing what could only be described as a simple, pink bikini. Nothing more, nothing less, except for a small, black bow in the middle of the chest area, and that was all it took for the poor boy to feel those damn hormones kick in._

_Not to Arnold's knowledge, the boys were eyeing every single girl in front of them, and not just Helga like him. He had barely noticed the other girls. The boys did notice Helga in particular though. Maybe it was because it had become so very obvious that she was indeed a girl at this moment or maybe it was because she certainly was the one with the bigger bust already, or maybe it was a mix of both things. Nonetheless, every boy was gawking at her in particular._

_Helga, still being new to the whole puberty thing, was just cocking an eyebrow at the boys' staring. She wasn't dense, but she wasn't exactly the type of girl to check out her body as often as possible. In fact, due to her insecurity, she often made sure to not look at it. Therefore, she hadn't noticed the obvious change as much as she should have. She knew she was growing, of course she knew, but she didn't realize quite how much._

"_Come on, you guys. Let's go in the water already!" Nadine said excitedly and started pulling at Rhonda who ran along with her instantly. Some of the other girls started giggling and ran along. "Come on, Helga!" Phoebe chimed in giddily and grabbed her hand._

_Helga turned around to eye the boys over her shoulder. "You morons coming?" she asked in that usual sassy voice, though to the boys, it sounded a little less harsh than usual. "Yes!" they answered in unison, almost with what sounded like a puppy following its master and stood up from the sand._

_Arnold was wearing a very big grin on his face, while he and the other boys ran after Helga and Phoebe out into the ocean. He kept looking at Helga as she jumped into the water, not caring one bit about how much she was splashing or whom she was splashing._

_Feeling unusually brave, Arnold dared to try to splash Helga as her back was turned to him. She gasped as the cold water hit her naked back and she slowly turned around to look at her next victim. "Arnold?" she asked in surprise, though he was giving the obvious 'I'm-completely-innocent' whistle._

_To Arnold's surprise though, Helga just smirked. He frowned at her casual reaction and turned to look at her. She walked a little closer to him and part of him wanted to turn around and run in fear, while the other one made him stand stiff._

_Helga stopped in front of Arnold, wearing that smirk for a couple of seconds, but then she swung around quickly, letting her wet hair hit him in the face. "Ow!" he exclaimed and grabbed his face in shock. He looked up and noticed the gleam in her eyes and her gleeful laughter. "Serves you right!"_

_Then, despite having felt a little like his pre in love self whenever Helga surprised him by a comeback, Arnold caught himself smiling at that gleeful smirk she was giving him now. With a determined smile, he simply splashed her again. She shrieked with laughter and did the same thing as him._

_It had been the most amazing five minutes in Arnold's young life, until Gerald had decided to pull him aside. Helga frowned a bit at the action, but was splashed by Phoebe almost instantly and soon seemed to have forgotten about Arnold. Seemed being the keyword._

"_Hey, Gerald, what are you doing?" Arnold asked and wriggled himself out of Gerald's grip. "Ok, I know it's our first time seeing the girls like this, but you need to be more… attentive!" Gerald answered with a pair of eyes, which were telling Arnold, that he should know what he meant by that statement. He didn't though._

"_Attentive? What are you talking about?"_

"_You're having a… boy problem, so to speak."_

"_What do you mean… 'boy problem'? I'm not following."_

"_Your… flag is raised."_

"… _Huh?"_

"_Oh, for crying out… You have a boner, Arnold!" Gerald whispered as loudly as he could. Arnold blinked a couple of times, before his face went red and he went as far down under the water as physically possible without having to cover his mouth. "You're kidding!"_

"_Nope. Can't believe the girls haven't noticed yet. Then again, it's not like they'd know what that'd look like yet."_

"_Oh, God, this is horrible… What do I do?" Arnold asked in a frenzy, and in all truth – at that age – he couldn't do much, since he still didn't truly understand it yet. The poor newly teenaged boy ended up spending the rest of that day on the beach, covering himself with his legs._

_The problem would probably have gone down, if he hadn't decided to keep looking at Helga as she splashed around like that, her hair wet and sticking close to her glittering skin and while wearing a very happy smile. He had sighed in happiness, when it was finally time to go home. It hadn't been the ideal day, but he had at least had a chance to gawk at Helga without getting caught. Which he knew probably was creepy, but he couldn't help himself. He really couldn't._

* * *

Arnold snickered at the memory, while he opened the door to the schoolyard. He stepped outside and was greeted by the gang. "Hey, Arnold, how's Helga feeling?" Sheena asked with worry in her voice. "Yeah, is she gonna be all right?" Nadine asked.

Arnold couldn't help but smile at the people in front of him. _If only Helga could see how worried they are all for her._ He wondered what he should answer exactly though. "Well, she's just really, _really_ tired. She's been having trouble sleeping lately, so that's all it really was. That and… she may have a small fever." He decided to answer, in case Helga was still flushed when she got out.

A few people in the gang sighed in relief, but the rest smiled in relief too. "Oh, thank goodness! I was ever so worried." Lila admitted with a huge smile and waved a hand next to her face to calm herself down.

The agreed murmur of relief died down, when someone else stepped out of the building. Arnold and the rest of the gang turned around to see Aaron looking at them with a small smile. "Why are you all gathered outside? What's going on?" he asked.

"They were worried about Helga." Arnold answered as nonchalantly as he could, though he could feel the growing rage inside him build up. Aaron simply smiled, ignoring the edgy tone in Arnold's voice. "Oh, she's just fine. Tired, but fine. She'll be out in a couple of seconds, I think." He answered.

Almost as if on cue, the door behind Aaron opened up with a loud bang, pushing him down to the ground. Some people gasped while others couldn't help but laugh at seeing Aaron lying there on the ground, Arnold being one of them.

"What in the world did I hit?" Helga asked behind the door, snuck her head out and looked down. "Oh, did I hit you, Aaron?" she asked. Aaron sat up and turned around with a smirk. "Yes, you did, Helga." He answered. "Well, that's fine then." She observed and walked out of the building.

"Helga!" Arnold tried to reprimand, but knew as much as she, that he didn't truly mean it. All things considered. "What? It's his own fault for standing right in front of the door." She answered, as she watched him get up on his feet.

"Yeah, Arnold's right; Helga will be just fine." Harold observed while crossing his arms with a small smirk. It wasn't until then Helga realized the whole gang was standing in front of them. "Uh… what are you guys doing here?" she asked with her eyebrows furrowed.

"We wanted to make sure you were all right, Helga." Curly answered honestly. That just made Helga's frown deeper. "Yeah, right. What's the real reason?" she asked. Rhonda rolled her eyes. "Believe it or not, Helga, but we're actually just here to make sure you're ok."

Helga shifted a little on her feet, feeling slightly uncomfortable at the positive attention. "Uh… s-seriously?" she asked, still feeling rather skeptical. The gang nodded in unison, which almost made her blush. "Uh… w-w-well, as you can see, I'm obviously fine, so joke's on you." she answered in her typical manner, refusing to look at them out of embarrassment.

They all rolled their eyes at Helga, but Arnold simply nudged his elbow into her arm. She didn't have to look at him to know what he was trying to say. She started pulling at the hair on the back of her head, trying to distract herself from what she was about to try to do.

"Uh… b-but… I guess that it was… sorta, maybe, in a way… n-nice of you guys to stick around just to… see if I was ok… Thanks." Helga said with an obvious stutter. The gang looked at each other in surprise, while Arnold smiled proudly.

"Well, you're ever so welcome, Helga." Lila answered with a big smile. "Yeah, we're just glad that you're all right." Eugene added. The others nodded and Helga dared to glance at them. They noticed a very faint smile on her lips, which made their own smiles rather big.

"W-Well… anyways, I really wanna go home and, uh… I forced Arnold to walk me home, so bye!" Helga said, as she grabbed Arnold's arm and pulled him with her. "Helga," he said with amusement in his voice. "you and I both know you don't have to force me into - - "

"Shut up, football head and walk me home!" Helga interrupted and kept pulling Arnold with her. He turned around to look at the gang with a shrug of his shoulders, before walking up next to her, struggling to keep up with her pace.

"Did you guys just see that?" Rhonda asked with a gleam in her eyes. "Yeah! Helga just thanked us for checking if she was ok. You guys think Arnold's right and she's taken a turn for the better?" Harold asked with a big smile. A few nodded in agreement, while Rhonda just smacked the back of his head.

"Ow! What gives, Rhonda?" Harold asked sullenly. "Not that! Well, that's a surprise too, but I'm talking about Helga and Arnold!" Rhonda answered and looked in their direction again. The gang followed her movement and looked on, as Arnold and Helga were walking and talking together. "Something's definitely going on between those two."

"You think so?" Gerald asked, while winking at Phoebe, who giggled. "Duh!" Rhonda answered and gestured towards them. "It's obvious! It's practically reeking out of them at this point, but I just don't get it… Arnold and Helga? Does that mean my marriage predictor back in fourth grade was right after all?"

"I think that thing was still wrong, but maybe Arnold and Helga is the exception. I mean, you didn't predict _our_ future marriage, Rhonda dear!" Curly answered and opened his arms to pull Rhonda into a kiss. "Ugh, get away from me, you little freak!" she answered and pushed his face away from her.

Amidst their peers' continuation of the discussion, Gerald caught himself looking in Aaron's direction. He was standing with both his hands in his pockets, and was looking at Arnold and Helga with something that looked like… melancholy?

Gerald looked at Helga and Arnold too, noticing how much they were smiling at each other, and then it hit him: Aaron _did_ actually have feelings for Helga. He sighed deeply and turned to Phoebe, who was obviously thinking the same thing. "This could be a problem." He whispered in her ear and she nodded in agreement.

* * *

"You sure you're feeling all right, Helga?" Arnold asked, while Helga walked up the steps to her house. She rolled her eyes and turned around. "I'm _fine_. For your information, I always feel much better after fainting. It's kinda like a power nap." She answered.

Arnold frowned. "Helga…" he said chastising. Helga just giggled a bit though. "Oh, relax, football head. I'm fine, I swear. I'll mosey my way right up to bed, get myself a nap and then eat till I drop, ok?" she said and opened the door.

"Oh, no, you won't. Eat first, then nap and then eat again."

"All right, all right, you big worrywart. I promise. Thanks for following me home." Helga answered with a smile and waved a bit from inside the hallway. "Anytime, Helga. See you tomorrow." Arnold answered, waved back and started to walk away.

Helga kept looking at Arnold as he walked away, before he finally turned the corner and she closed the door. "Oh, God… Arnold knows… Well, sorta. Ugh, and Aaron knows that he knows…" she muttered before walking towards the stairs. She stopped though and looked towards the kitchen. She shook her head in amusement. _Stupid football head._ She thought with a smile, before walking into the kitchen instead.

* * *

Several hours later, Helga heard the doorbell ring. She looked at herself once more in the mirror. She had put on a simple pair of light blue jeans, a greenish tank top and a short-sleeved cowboy jacket. She didn't feel like looking formal, especially not since she was going with just Aaron. It wasn't like she wanted to impress him, so what was the point?

Helga _was_ wondering though, if the waiter would even let them in with the way she looked, so she quickly put her hair up in a lazy bun, letting a few strands of her hair flow in front of her face and threw a black pearl necklace around her neck. Even just that made her seem more formal. She looked towards her shoes and sighed. _I guess I should… Just in case they got a dress code, I don't know about._ She thought before putting on a pair of black pumps.

The doorbell rang again. "Yeah, yeah, yeah." Helga muttered, stood up, fixed her shoe a bit and then ran out of the room. _I can't believe I'm doing this… Then again, out of all of his blackmails, then I at least gain something from this one._ She thought before opening the door.

"Sure took your time." Aaron said, before his eyes went a little wide, not to Helga's notice. "Well, excuse me, but I'm not sure whether Chez Pierre even have a dress code, so I wasn't sure what to wear. Looking at you though, I guess we were thinking the same thing." She answered, but he didn't really hear her.

"What? Do I look really weird or something?" Helga asked as she looked down herself. Aaron shook his head and smiled though. "No, you look good actually." He answered. She quirked an eyebrow at him, before walking down the steps. "I'm not sure how I feel about that surprised look on your face."

"I'm only surprised because you made an effort to look good, rather than just throwing something random on."

"We _are_ going to a restaurant. I'm not that tomboyish."

"I know. I know. So, wanna get going?"

"I'm not standing here all night, that's for sure." Helga answered before walking through the streets. Aaron shook his head in amusement as he walked beside her. _This is going to be one interesting night, that's for sure…_

* * *

Helga almost choked on the soda she was drinking. She held her hand up to her mouth and swallowed quickly, before snickering. "What?! You're kidding me?" she asked in shock and went to grab the napkin in front of her.

"Nope, she actually did that." Aaron answered and chuckled as well. "Whoa, your mom's actually a worse drunk than mine. No offense." Helga muttered and removed a bit of soda around her mouth with the napkin.

"None taken. It's actually nice to talk about with someone who gets it, you know?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I mean, it's not like I'm the only teen in the whole world who's got less than perfect parents, and Phoebe and Arnold do their best to understand and help me, but… they never truly will understand, you know?"

"Yeah, I get that too. Let me guess: Your parents are also the kind of people who likes to keep up appearances?"

"You're kidding? Before I went to talk with Dr. Bliss back then, Bob and Miriam told me: 'We Pataki's don't talk about things', 'some things are best swept under the rug' and 'don't blab anything that will give us all a one-way ticket to the funny farm.' Can you believe that?"

"Oh, my God, sounds like your parents and my mom could be best friends."

"Really? But isn't it your mom who's the… you know?" Helga asked and made an obvious gurgling noise, which made Aaron chuckle. "Yeah," he said while nodding. "that's why she wants to keep up appearances. Honestly, I think she feels like she doesn't belong in my dad's family. As if she's not good enough or something."

"I think my mom kinda feels the same way and yet not really. She's told me a lot of amazing stories about herself… about _before_ she married Bob. She was really awesome, did all these great things."

"Whoa, really? What happened?"

"My _dad_ happened…" Helga answered sullenly and sighed. Aaron sighed with her. "Do you know if…" he started unsurely. "Do you know if your parents even love each other?" he asked. She shrugged. "I'm not sure. They have their moments, but… I'm not sure if they _ever_ loved each other. I personally think they should get divorced already. I mean, if two people don't wanna be together, they shouldn't. Maybe they could find happiness with someone else, you know?"

"I kinda know how you feel and yet I don't. I want my parents to stay together, but that's not going to happen."

"But they're unhappy together, aren't they?" Helga asked with her eyebrows furrowed a little. "Well…" Aaron started unsurely and shrugged. "I guess they could be happier, but…"

"Then the answer should be obvious, right? Shouldn't everybody do what makes them the happiest?"

"I guess so, but… they're not even taking me into consideration. Shouldn't parents do what's best for their children?"

"… You're 16 years old. You're way too old to think like that. You sound like a selfish brat to me. Grow up already." Helga answered and took a sip from her glass. She could feel Aaron staring at her in disbelief. She swallowed her soda and apologized in a small whisper.

"Uh, no… I was just surprised, since…" Aaron started, but then smiled as he put his chin in his palm. "I was surprised, since everyone else who knows about this, just says they feel bad for me. You're the first one to ever tell me I'm selfish for thinking like this."

"Well, sorry to burst your bubble." Helga said and gave Aaron an icy stare. He shook his head though. "No, that's not what I meant. In a way, it's refreshing to hear another opinion. An opinion that might just be true even… Thanks."

The corner of Helga's lips went up a bit for second, but it was very brief. There was something odd in the air that she couldn't identify. Maybe it was the way that Aaron was looking at her. With a mix of wonder and adoration. The atmosphere was thick with the anticipation of _something_, but she had no clue what.

"You know, Helga…" Aaron started, still with a small smile on his lips. Helga dared to look into his chocolate brown eyes and she felt something in her heart tuck at the way he was looking at her. In a way, it was bittersweet, since she could see a tint of hurt in his eyes as he spoke. "If it wasn't because I knew there was no room in your heart for anyone else but Arnold… I think I would have tried to hit on you myself."

There it was. A few very true words and Helga didn't even consider them to be a lie for a second, because she knew Aaron wouldn't gain anything from lying about something like that. In a way, she was surprised and appalled, like she always had been whenever a boy in the past would confess to her.

There was something different about this confession though. Maybe it was because this guy was the first one to ever like Helga despite knowing how much she loved Arnold. Even knowing that fact, Aaron had started liking her and it made her heartstrings ache, because she knew that he knew that there was no chance she'd ever feel the same for him.

Helga's eyes didn't leave Aaron's, until he looked towards a nearby waiter and asked for the check. She quickly averted her eyes, when he looked back. She had no clue what to say and – in a way – she knew there really wasn't much to say. She also knew he didn't expect her to say anything. He had simply vented his feelings and she had listened. She had done her part, so… why did she feel like she should have said _something_?

* * *

Aaron and Helga were quiet on the way home. It wasn't an awkward silence opposed to the simple fact that none of them had anything to say. When they reached Helga's front door though, she decided to cut through the silence. "Well, thanks for dinner, I guess." She muttered lamely.

Aaron chuckled a bit, staying on the ground for now. "You're welcome… especially since your stress, lack of sleep and malnutrition _is_ my fault." He answered. Helga smiled a little at that. "Yeah, you're right; I have absolutely nothing to thank you for actually."

Aaron chuckled a bit and kept looking at Helga for a couple of seconds in what felt like a content silence. When he saw her reach for the door handle, he stepped up on the first step though. "Helga," he said as she turned around to look at him. "I know you're gonna kill me for this tomorrow, but I have to do this just once, ok?"

There was a part of Helga that knew _exactly_ what Aaron was about to do, and yet, her eyes went wide in surprise, when she felt his lips touch her cheek. It was so gentle, brief and almost feathery. A kiss she hadn't experienced before.

The kiss lasted only a couple of seconds, but to both Aaron and Helga, it felt like time stopped. He leaned back with a small smile. "Goodnight." He said with a normal voice and walked down the steps. She kept looking at him as he walked through the sidewalk. When he turned at the same corner Arnold had that very morning, she finally opened her door and walked inside.

Helga closed the front door behind her and let her hand stay on it for a couple of seconds, while the events from this night ran through her mind. Their common families, his confession and lastly his kiss. She banged the back of her head up against the door and then let herself slide down slowly, until she hit the floor beneath her.

Helga sat there for what felt like forever, before she finally grabbed her tied up hair, pulled out the elastic, and let the hair spread over her shoulders. As her locks tickled her neck, she knew far too well, how much more complicated things had just got.

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: Twist! Again! Sorta… xD Some of you – at least according to the reviews – had already got a clue to the fact that Aaron was developing feelings for Helga, but to others it may come as a huge surprise? Please tell me what you think of it and whether you're surprised or not :P**


	29. Time for a less than gentle push

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**To Helga's surprise and happiness, it seemed like it wasn't only Arnold who cared enough about her health to stick around. She was met with the rest of the gang outside, all of them waiting for her to make sure she was ok.**_

_**To Helga's surprise yet again, Aaron confessed his feelings for her during their dinner that same night and gave her a small kiss on the cheek as a way for him to say goodbye to those feelings. She went to bed that night feeling very… complicated.**_

**Author's 1st note: Don't know what to say! Enjoy! Badum xD**

* * *

Chapter 29: "Time for a less than gentle push"

Helga hadn't known what to expect from the following Thursday morning, but that didn't mean she had foreseen this odd happy feeling in her chest. It seemed like, after having things settled with both Arnold and Aaron in a way, she had felt a little freer. She knew where Aaron was standing, Arnold was her ally as usual and she herself was starting to believe a little more in herself. Everything was still a mess though, and she seriously didn't know how to behave the following day.

Helga didn't have to worry though, because everyone was acting normal. No one kept questioning her about her health, no one was breathing down her neck to make sure she wouldn't faint again and, most importantly, Arnold didn't seem to know who she'd dinner with the former night. He may know that it was part of the blackmail, but she still didn't like the thought of him knowing.

To Helga's surprise, Aaron seemed pretty normal too. She hadn't expected him to behave differently or anything, but it was nice to know that her suspicion had been correct: He had simply vented his feelings last night, he didn't expect anything to happen. How stupid would that also be? The first words he heard her saying was one of her usual 'I love Arnold' chants after all. It would have been far too ironic if he had truly fallen in love with her or something.

Aaron didn't seek Helga's attention until lunch. While she was eating with Arnold, Phoebe and Gerald as usual, she suddenly felt a pair of hands bang themselves onto her shoulders. She yelped in shock, but then instantly rolled her eyes, realizing whom those hands belonged to.

"Very funny, Aaron, you almost gave me a heart attack." Helga said and arched her neck until she could see Aaron's face. He just kept looking down at her with a smirk though. "Sorry. I didn't mean to, I swear. How are you feeling?"

"Just fine, thank you." Helga answered with a sarcastic smile, though there was a hint of honesty in it. "I should hope so, because guess what you're going to be doing this Saturday?" Aaron asked, giving her shoulders a few pats.

"Oh, God, what now?" Helga asked as she let her head roll forward into its normal position. She noticed the odd stares of the others on the table, though she didn't know why exactly they were giving her those intent looks.

"You're going to be having a party at your house." Aaron answered. Helga's eyes went wide and she slowly turned her head around to look at him in skepticism. "I am _what_?" she asked in disbelief and with her eyebrows raised.

"I heard a little bird singing about how your dad's out of town for some business or something."

"How do you… No, never mind. I don't wanna know. You have your methods, the same way I do, so I'm not gonna question it."

"Good girl. So, party at Saturday?" Aaron asked. Helga sighed heavily, but nodded her head nonetheless. _I feel like a freaking puppet by now, and he's just pulling the strings._ "Yeah, sure, party at Helga Pataki's. Spread the rumor, I guess, but only our gang! I don't want any strangers in my house."

"You got it. I'll tell people to bring stuff themselves, so all you have to do is play the hostess, ok?" Aaron suggested and patted Helga's shoulders again. "Oh, aren't you generous?" she asked in mock thankfulness as she looked up at him again. "Yes, I am." He answered, patted her forehead and walked away.

Helga started flapping with her hands in some sort of attempt at pushing Aaron away, even though he was already gone. She growled in annoyance, but still rolled her eyes in amusement, before she turned around to face her friends. They were still staring at her in shock. "… Ok, that's it. Do I have something on my face or something?" she asked.

"Why are you doing what Aaron tells you to?" Gerald asked in disbelief. Helga blinked a couple of times, as she slowly realized where the odd behavior was coming from. She sighed heavily, put her elbow on the table and laid her cheek in her palm. "Because I… sorta owe him a favor." She answered and glanced in Arnold's direction. She could see him frown in realization, but he kept his composure.

"Well, at least it'll be _your_ party and not Rhonda's." Arnold put his hand on Helga's shoulder, in a way trying to disinfect her from Aaron's touch. "You can make a really cool party if you want to." He added with a smile.

Helga smiled back, but sighed a bit. "At least I won't have to worry about drinks and such… assuming that Aaron keeps his promise." She answered and glanced in Aaron's direction. "Look at him! He's already gossiping about it! What is he, one of those tattletales in 'There's no doubt about it'?" she wondered aloud.

"I like the H.C. Andersen reference, Helga." Phoebe chimed in. Helga turned around to face her best friend, having already known that she out of anyone would have got the reference. "Thank you." she answered briefly.

"And if it's any consolation, then I think everyone will be overjoyed at hearing about your party." Phoebe added. Helga sighed a bit, but kept smiling. "No, wait, hold on." Gerald said, making the others look at him. "What are you gonna do about your mom?"

"Easy: I'll send her over to Susie." Helga answered. "Susie?" Phoebe and Gerald repeated in confusion. "Yeah, Susie Kokoshka from the boarding house. Apparently, those two are friends. I think they met during the summer after fourth grade or something." Helga explained and looked at Arnold. "You think Susie would mind babysitting Saturday?"

Arnold snickered at Helga's somewhat cruel question. "I think she'd love the company honestly. Oskar and Susie's been… fighting a little extra lately." He answered. "Really? Whoa, shocker." Gerald said and started laughing, causing the rest of his friends to laugh too.

* * *

Before Helga knew it, her party had become the latest gossip. At least within their own little gang. People kept asking her all sorts of questions, but she managed to dismiss the most of them. It was pretty basic questions after all. Like what to bring, when to come and yadda-yadda-yadda.

7pm seemed to have become the most popular choice of when to start the party, and she felt like just going along with whatever her peers wanted. She had an odd feeling of anticipation though, despite her not truly wanting the party as such. It _was_ still going to be her first teen party, and she wanted to try to at least do _something_ for her friends, especially since they had been so sweet just the other day. She hadn't really figured out what though.

When Helga got home that day though and had mentioned hanging out with Susie to her mom, she figured out what she could add to the party. She was surprised she hadn't thought of it before, since it'd also be the perfect way to help her mom. At least for a small amount of time. It'd be like killing two birds with one stone.

So when Saturday arrived and Miriam had gone to the boarding house – even bringing her beloved blender with her – Helga cracked open the liquor cabinet and grabbed all of the bottles within, and there was a lot of them. She placed all of them on the kitchen desks and grabbed some glasses for everyone to use. It was perfect. With all the liquor gone, Miriam would have to take at least a two-day break in her drinking. It was _something_.

Helga felt silly though, since she was actually debating within herself about what to wear. Since her epiphany from the whole skirt incident, she had started to eye some of her 'I like it, but Helga Pataki wouldn't wear it' clothes, which she had hidden way back in her closet.

Helga had found a few particular items, which she was still debating whether or not she dared to wear. _I could always mix it up… Like, wear these denim shorts with the silver belt and put on the black top with the pink skull… It's not like the shorts are short shorts anyway… It could work._ She took ahold of the items and put them up in front of her body as she looked in the mirror.

"Why am I being this indecisive? It's _my_ clothes and I'll wear it however the fuck I want!" Helga declared with determination in her voice and laid the clothes on her bed. She pulled off her top and was about to grab the shorts, until she decided to look at herself in the mirror. She eyed her black underwear, which was… well, just black.

"… It probably won't happen, but… it _is_ a party… and Arnold's gonna be there… and I'm gonna wear _that_. Maybe I should, just in case… I'm not being presumptuous or anything, right? Better safe than sorry, right?" Helga wondered aloud and went for her underwear drawer. "I-It's just in case…" she repeated before pulling out a different set of underwear. She eyed the pink and black underwear for a bit. "What it is it with me and plaid stuff? Must be Arnold's fault…"

It didn't take Helga too long to change into her outfit: The black denim shorts, a black top with a pink skull on it and a silver belt – And with the pink, plaid underwear beneath. "Yeah… this works. I can do this… M-Maybe I _should_ put on some jeans instead…?" she wondered while she turned around to look at her backside.

Her eyes went wide. "Yeah, jeans it is!" she decided and practically ripped off the shorts. She looked at them apologetically while she went to her closet. "Don't worry; I'll wear you… _someday_. Just not now. Small steps, old girl." She muttered to herself and threw the shorts back in her drawer and pulled out a pair of black, loose jeans with a pattern of leaves and flowers on the right leg in silver gems.

Helga eyed herself again and smiled. "Yeah, this I'm much more comfortable with. So much for an epiphany. I'm going right back into my comfort zone…" she observed in slight distress. She turned to the side. "Yet, not totally… I mean if I just don't put on anything to cover my arms, then this top _is_ a little revealing…"

Helga turned her front towards the mirror again and pulled down a little at the top, revealing a bit of cleavage. "Either it'll show cleavage or it'll show my stomach… I can handle that. That's ok." She decided with a smile and looked towards her small box containing makeup. She strutted over to it and opened it.

Helga noticed an unopened eyeliner lying in there and she took it in her fingers. She looked at herself in the mirror. "If I could put on mascara in fourth grade… I should be able to put on eyeliner _now_, right? Phoebe _did_ give this to me in case I felt like trying… and I still have an hour left before they arrive. That should be enough time to wash it off in case I fuck up…" she muttered to herself and started ripping it open.

"Besides… how hard can it be? It's like using a paint brush. A small brush… that can poke your eye out if you do it wrong. Great, now I'm nervous." Helga declared with a sigh, leaned towards her mirror and lifted her hand to her eye. "I can do this. Some dumb eyeliner's not gonna beat me."

* * *

Helga just kept staring at herself. "… I look weird, don't I?" she wondered aloud and tilted her head to the side, as if that could make it more obvious. She sighed and went towards her phone. She quickly found Phoebe's number and called her.

"Hi, Helga. Want me to come over sooner than anyone else?" Phoebe greeted. Helga rolled her eyes with a smile. "I love how you can see right through me, Phoebs. Please?" she begged. "Of course! I'm already on my way." Phoebe answered. "Thanks. You're the best. See ya." Helga said and hung up. _What would I do without that girl?_

* * *

Not too long after, Helga heard the doorbell ring. She ran from inside the living room and opened the front door, having started to feel slightly panicky since talking with Phoebe. Phoebe yelped a little at the very quick answer but then shook her head in surprise. "Helga," she said with a big smile. "you're wearing eyeliner!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, and I'm also wearing a somewhat revealing top. Get in here!" Helga answered and pulled Phoebe inside before closing the door. "Have I done it wrong?" she asked, as she whipped her body around to look at Phoebe.

Phoebe went closer to her, while adjusting her glasses. Helga did her best not to blink and just look back, giving Phoebe a chance to observe the eyeliner. "Pretty good for a first try… Unless, of course, you've been practicing behind my back?" she asked teasingly. "Hell no!" Helga answered with a proud smile. "So I'm good to go?"

"Well, mostly."

"Mostly?"

"You _are_ gonna wear mascara too, right?"

"… Oh, right, yeah." Helga answered, having completely forgotten about anything else in the makeup category. "Want me to help?" Phoebe asked and grabbed her hand. Helga sighed and nodded. "But just to make sure I don't make any rookie mistakes. I wanna try doing this myself today."

* * *

"I think you look, as our peers would say it, awesome!" Phoebe declared. Helga's slightly glossy lips curled into a big smile. "Thanks. I'd say I did pretty good myself." She answered with a proud smile. "I'm doing something tonight, Phoebs."

"Something? What is this something?"

"Something Arnold related, though I'm not sure what yet."

"You're gonna confess?"

"No way. Not as long Aaron's still around."

"What does Aaron have to do with… Oh, wait, so you know, I guess?" Phoebe asked. Helga cocked an eyebrow at her. "Know what?"

"That he's… you know… that he likes you?"

"Oh! Uh, yeah, he… told me yesterday. How do you know?"

"It was pretty obvious with the way he was looking at you and Arnold yesterday. He seemed a little sad." Phoebe explained. Helga felt her heart tuck a bit and sighed, before letting her back lean up against the wall. "He did, huh?"

"Yeah… is he… complicating things?"

"That doesn't even _begin_ to describe it, Phoebs. He's messing with my head. I mean, don't worry, I'm not falling for him - no way - but… we have some stuff in common and he's… I don't know, he knows how I feel about certain things. This is gonna sound like a friend-zone thing, but he seriously feels like a brother by now."

"Whoa, really? But I thought you hated him?"

"Oh, I _do_, trust me, but don't siblings hate each other from time to time too? I mean, think about it. We kinda resemble each other a little, right?"

"How so?"

"Well… this is sorta private, so let's just say that he understand my family."

"… Oh! All right, I can imagine what you mean by that. I'm guessing you two have made a connection?"

"I suppose that's a way to put it… but believe me; he's pissing me off beyond any means too!"

"Sounds like a brother and sister relationship alright." Phoebe declared with a laugh. Helga smiled lovingly back. "He's also, maybe without him even realizing… helped me a bit with a few things."

"Helped you?"

"Oh, uh… I'm talking too much!" Helga declared and stood up. Phoebe's eyebrows furrowed a bit at her blonde friend's peculiar behavior, but simply shook her head in waiver. _I guess she'll tell me when she's ready._

"We still have one last task, Phoebe; I don't know what to do with my hair." Helga pointed out as she walked towards her mirror. "I wanna try something new, but I've tried almost every hairdo there is out there by now."

"What about a bun? I haven't seen your hair in a bun since back in fourth grade."

"Uh, Phoebs… not to sound extremely girly, but, uh… does _this_ look like the outfit that'd do well with a _bun_?" Helga asked, while gesturing to herself. Phoebe eyed the rock like outfit. "… Point taken." She answered with a smile. "Well, outfit wise; I think a high ponytail would fit the best."

"A high ponytail…? How high?"

"Like, uh…" Phoebe muttered, curled her hand into a fist, turned her head a bit and gestured at the back of her head. "Like this?"

"Yeah, that could work. All right, a high ponytail it is. What time is it, Phoebs?" Helga asked while she went for a black hair elastic. Phoebe pulled out her phone and looked at the clock. "… You have five minutes." She answered.

"Oh, criminy!" Helga exclaimed and almost as if on cue, someone rang the doorbell. "Phoebe!"

"Going!" Phoebe answered as she stood up, already on her way out of the door. Helga smiled thankfully and decided to listen as much as she could, while she tied her hair up. Luckily for her, Phoebe must either have been too absentminded or known exactly that Helga would plan to eavesdrop, because she left the door wide open.

"Hey, boys. No surprise that you're the first to arrive." Phoebe's sweet voice said after opening the door. _Boys? Which boys? Be more specific, Phoebe!_ Helga shouted in her head and finished tying her hair. _Yeah, that looks good. Now, where's my - -_

"Hey, Phoebe, you sure are early yourself." a very familiar male voices greeted downstairs. "Arnold!" Helga exclaimed with a big smile and turned to look towards the door. She was almost ready to run down, until she caught a glimpse of her pink ribbon. "Oh, right. What to do with you?" she wondered as she grabbed it.

Helga looked at herself in the mirror and tried imagining the bow tied somewhere. With a smile, she tied it around her neck as a choker. She eyed it for a bit, deciding to not make a bow, but simply tie it all the way around, making the ends hang a little loose down the right side of her collarbone.

When Helga was satisfied, she walked towards her door. She already knew exactly how her entre would be, and she couldn't wait to do it. She hadn't tried doing this since she was 13 years old though, so she took a deep breath before walking out of her room.

"Where's the hostess anyway?" Aaron asked from downstairs, just before he looked up towards Helga. "I'm coming – I'm coming. Don't think I forgot my own party." She answered while positioning herself on top of the bannister. Arnold and Phoebe also looked up at her, as she slid down the railing.

"Helga, are you insane?!" Arnold asked in a mix of worry and amusement. He took a couple of steps closer to the railing, holding out his arms. He caught Helga in his arms, as her feet landed gently on the floor. "Worrywart! I've done that like a million times before!" she exclaimed, but didn't push him away from her.

"As if that makes it any better." Arnold observed with an eyebrow quirked. "It _does_ make it better. It means I've got experience, football head!" Helga corrected and slapped his chest a bit. He simply rolled his eyes at her as he let go.

"Well, look who decided to doll herself up, _despite_ not being the one who planned this party." Aaron pointed out mockingly. Helga turned to fake a scowl at him. "Well, _someone_ decided to force me into hosting a party, and I never do anything halfheartedly"

"Now, ain't that the truth." Aaron declared as he walked past Helga, nuzzling her hair. "Hey!" she exclaimed and put her hands on top of her head, as if it didn't take anything else to straighten it out again. He just chuckled though, as he made his way into the living room.

"Ugh, that guy drives me insane." Helga muttered to herself and the two people around her, before trying to straighten her hair a bit. She glanced towards Arnold, noticing a bit of a frown on his face. "What's with you?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing." Arnold answered, realizing that his feelings had shown and instantly turned his frown into a smile. Helga wasn't 100% convinced, but decided to let it slide. It wasn't like he'd tell her anyway, since he hadn't already.

"Whoa! Someone sure stole a lot of liquor from mom's cabinet, huh?" Aaron asked from inside the living room. Helga rolled her eyes. _Oh, well, I guess he figured that both Arnold and Phoebe knows about my mom already, so he's not bothering being careful about what he says._

Arnold turned to frown at Helga. "How does he know about that?" he asked her in a whisper. She cocked an eyebrow at him and crossed her arms, giving him an obvious 'you-know-why' look. His frown turned into a scowl as he realized. "Man, he sure doesn't hold back!"

Helga couldn't bring herself to correct Arnold though. Since the actual reason for Aaron to know about her mother's alcohol problem wasn't due to the blackmail, as much as she had simply told him: The same way he had told her about his mom, but telling Arnold about that would mean to tell on Aaron's private life, which she hoped Aaron wasn't planning to do himself with hers.

A knock on the door behind them pulled Helga out of her thoughts. With a small smile, she went towards it and opened it. "Oh, hi, Gerald." She greeted. Gerald, standing in front of her on her porch, blinked a couple of times before he leaned forward close to her face. She leaned back though and frowned a bit. "What, never heard of personal space?" she asked.

"… You're wearing eyeliner."

"… No shit, Sherlock, thanks for the tip."

"Huh, it's still you under that raccoon mask though."

"Raccoon?" Helga repeated and then turned around to look at Phoebe in pure horror. "You do _not_ look like a raccoon, Helga! Gerald's just teasing you." Phoebe replied to her unsaid question with amusement in her voice. Helga turned around to face Gerald and punched him on the shoulder. "Jerk." She announced and walked to the side to let him in.

Gerald just chuckled though and walked right over to Phoebe. "Hey, babe." He greeted before giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Good evening." She answered, before he turned around to Arnold. "Hey, Gerald." Arnold said and lifted his hand. Gerald did the same thing and they did their usual handshake. "Hey, man. Where is that cousin of - - "

"Whoa, I can't believe your mom drinks this too!" Aaron interrupted unknowingly from inside the living room. Gerald glanced towards the voice. "Oh, there he is." He observed with something that sounded like both resentment and displeasure in his voice. He earned an elbow to his ribs from Phoebe for that tone, but they both knew that she was thinking the same thing.

"My mom also can't stay away from - - " Aaron stopped speaking as he got out of the living room and noticed Gerald standing there. He was holding a bottle in his hand and glanced towards Helga. "Uh, sorry, I didn't hear him coming in."

Helga sighed. "Naw, it's ok. Gerald knows about it too." She answered, but was interrupted almost instantly by Arnold. "Wait, what do you mean 'your mom also can't stay away'? Does Margaret drink?" he asked. "And how do you know that, Helga?"

"Uh…" Helga looked towards Aaron, as if trying to ask for help. He simply shrugged though. "I think I have mentioned it to her at some point and, uh, it's not like it's not obvious with _her_ mom or anything." He answered a little lamely.

Arnold wasn't convinced though – Not one bit. _One thing is that Aaron knows this about Helga; That could technically be part of this whole blackmail deal… but why does Helga know something that personal about Aaron? I didn't even know – I don't think my parents or our grandparents know either. What, was he trying to compensate by telling her one of his own secrets or something?_

Almost as if someone heard Helga's inner prayers, the doorbell rang again. _Oh, thank God!_ She exclaimed inside her head and turned to open it. "Hey, Helga!" Rhonda greeted with a big smile before she, Nadine, Sheena, Eugene and Lila walked in.

Helga swiftly stepped aside, automatically leaning against Arnold to give them room. He grabbed her upper arms gently to keep her safely away from the horde of people suddenly rushing in. Not to his surprise, but still pleasure, Helga leaned back against him, fully accepting his support.

"Helga, you haven't decorated the house whatsoever!" Rhonda exclaimed in shock, earning a roll of the eyes from Helga. "I didn't say this would be a fancy party now, did I, Rhonda Lloyd? I'm simply providing my house for the party. Nothing more – Nothing less." She answered and, to his wonder, didn't step away from Arnold even after the 'danger' was over.

Rhonda rolled her eyes at Helga's statement, but decided not to argue against her. "I allowed myself to bring some food, if you don't mind?" she asked as she showed off a tray, covered in tin foil. Helga simply gestured towards the living room. "Be my guest. Literally."

"Thank you." Rhonda said with a small courtesy and went inside the living room, making an obvious wink at Aaron as doing so. Helga noticed how he simply rolled his eyes a little bit. _He should go for Rhonda honestly. They'd suit each other._ She thought with slight glee.

"Helga! I thought you said we had to bring our own drinks and such? There's enough alcohol here for the whole weekend!" Nadine exclaimed from inside the living room. "Oh, no! You are _not_ staying here the whole weekend! If you pass out in my house, you'll end up outside in my garden!" Helga simply shouted right back, mostly to avoid any questioning about the amount of alcohol.

"That seems fair, but why do you have so much alcohol, Helga? Didn't the man at the store question this amount?" Eugene asked innocently. Helga tried to force her brain cells to come up with an excuse, but Arnold beat her to it. "Oh, come on, it can't surprise you, right? Helga's got her ways, isn't that right?"

Helga turned to glance up at Arnold, who winked at her. She smiled thankfully. "Well, that is most certainly true. Thank you, Helga." Sheena called from inside the living room. "You're welcome! Just don't question it. If I tell you, I might have to kill you!" Helga shouted back, earning a laugh from the people around her. "Got it!" the people inside the living room answered.

Helga turned to look at Arnold again. "Thanks." She said gratefully. He simply shrugged though, while smiling. "You're welcome. As I said; I'm always gonna be on your side, Helga." He answered. _Yeah… it's definitely only Arnold who can make my heart do this._ She thought as she felt her heart skipping a beat.

_Weird. Usually after admitting my feelings to girl, they go away. Why is it different with Helga?_ Aaron wondered as he felt his eyebrows furrow at the sight of Helga and Arnold smiling at each other like that. Without even noticing it himself, his hand went towards his pocket, where he knew he was keeping a small, blue pill. He shook his head though, when he noticed his own hand on his thigh. _I don't know why I even brought this. If Arnold's got any brain cells in that big head of his, he'll go for it tonight. With our without my interference._

* * *

To Helga's surprise, it came to her rather naturally to play the hostess. It wasn't that hard really. Especially after getting a few drinks down, and since the party started three hours ago, she had gotten quite a few. Despite feeling happy with the people around her, she couldn't help but wonder why Arnold seemed to… avoid her somehow.

And, indeed, Arnold was doing his best to stay away from Helga. "Why are you hiding from her?" Gerald asked, while they sat together in the kitchen with only a few people around them. "I'm not _hiding_ as much as I'm… I don't know, Gerald, I feel like with Aaron still around, I should stay back for now." He answered.

"What? But… wasn't the point that you were gonna go for it before he did?"

"Well, yeah, but… let's just say that I have… found out a few things and now it seems best to just lay off for a little while, and I know I won't be able to hold back with alcohol in my body and with the way Helga's behaving right now."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. She's in a _really_ good mood!" Gerald said as he looked towards the living room, where Helga and Phoebe were currently dancing together. Helga grabbed Phoebe's hand and they made a small wave together. "I swear, if it wasn't because it was _Helga_, then I'd be having so many dirty thoughts right now."

Arnold frowned and punched Gerald's shoulder. "Very funny, but that just means you see my point." He muttered and forced himself to look away. It didn't help though, because now he could see Helga bounce towards them. "Arnold, dance with me!" she exclaimed happily as she leaned over the counter.

Arnold's eyes automatically darted to her cleavage, but he forced them away instantly. "Sorry, Helga, I'm not really in the mood right now." He answered apologetically. She sighed heavily and a bit slurry. "You're no fun tonight, Arnold!"

"You got that right." Aaron agreed with a frown, appearing apparently out of nowhere. _What's the matter with him? Is he holding back because he knows of the blackmail? I guess that means he's gonna need some help after all…_ he thought before smiling at him. "Maybe you just need a drink?"

"Yes! Make him a drink, Aaron!" Helga answered on Arnold's behalf. Arnold didn't get the chance to reject the suggestion, before Aaron was already walking towards the alcohol table. While he took a glass, he grabbed a bottle. He poured down the content in the glass, before putting his hand down into his pocket and pulling out the small pill. He eyed it for a couple of seconds, wondering if he was interfering too much.

Aaron snickered and shook his head. _What the hell am I thinking? This is going way too far. Never mind. Let Arnold miss his chance if he wants to._ He decided and moved his hand over the glass to put it back in his pocket.

"Aaron!" Helga shouted with a happy voice, startling Aaron. As he turned around in surprise to look at her, he felt the pill fall out of his hand. He gasped a bit, as he turned around to face the glass again, watching as the pill melted in it.

"Thanks. I'll bring it to Arnold now." Helga said as she took the glass. "Uh, no, wait. Helga, I - - " Aaron muttered, but she was already walking back towards Arnold with the glass in her hand. He sighed heavily. _Oh, well… time for a less than gentle push, I guess… Crap. She's gonna kill me when she finds out._

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: I think you have a pretty clear idea about what that 'blue pill' might be, but please do tell me what your guess is :P The next chapter should be up tomorrow, since I know **_**exactly**_** what will happen in that one xD Again: Please do guess xD**


	30. I'm at your mercy

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**Though Helga had never really seen herself as a 'party girl' whatsoever, then she didn't really mind Aaron's next blackmail: Throwing a party at her house the following Saturday.**_

_**Sending Miriam to hang out with Susie, Helga stole all of the alcohol in her cabinet to use for the party, figuring it would be like killing two birds with a stone. Of course her peers didn't mind all of the free alcohol and neither did she a few hours after the party had begun.**_

_**Arnold, doing his best to give Helga some space all things considered, didn't expect Aaron to try to help her. He suggested a drink for him and, without anyone else's knowledge, he slipped a pill into Arnold's drink. It was an accident though, since he had changed his mind in the last second, but before he could change the drink, Helga had already taken it to give it to Arnold.**_

**Author's 1st note: ****Oh, do me a small favor, please? I'm soooo tired, so I didn't read this through before uploading… Please mention ANY typos you may see. Consider it a game! xD Who can find the most typos? There's bound to be some xD**

* * *

Chapter 30: "I'm at your mercy"

Helga walked her way to Arnold, utterly oblivious to the panicky state, which she had left Aaron in. "Here you go, football head, bottoms up." She said and forced the drink into Arnold's hand. He sighed a bit, before he started sipping from it.

"In what world is that 'bottoms up'?" Helga asked with a pout. Arnold felt his heart skip a beat at seeing her lips like that, but did his best to make his heart beat regularly again. "It is in my world." He answered, before sipping a little again.

"Come on, Arnold." Helga said as she laid hair upper body down on the counter in front of him and turned to glance at him with a cat like look in her eyes. He felt his entire body stiffen at that pose – _every_ part of his body. "Dance with me."

Arnold felt like jumping out of the chair, just grabbing Helga and dancing with her for the rest of the night, if she would just keep looking at him like that. _No! I need to… to hold back. It's just her eyes! I've seen them before! And it's just that smile, which I've also seen before! Not like this but… Ugh._ He thought before giving her a small smile. "I-I'll dance with you when I'm done drinking this, ok?" he suggested.

Helga looked mockingly pensive for a second, almost as if Arnold would lose his chance if he didn't just dance with her now. He was about to change his mind, until she gave him a toothy grin. "All right, but I want to see you within the next half hour, Arnoldo!" she answered before bouncing off into the living room.

As soon as Helga was out of hearing range, Arnold sighed in defeat. "She got me." He declared and took a gulp of the glass. "Yup, she got you all right." Gerald agreed with a sigh as well. "What happened to 'staying away from her for now'?"

"Uh… her eyes and smile happened." Arnold answered with a shy chuckle. Gerald rolled his eyes and shook his head in amusement. "You are _such_ a sap! You're whipped by a girl you're not even dating."

"Ugh, don't remind me of the last part."

"I'll keep reminding you until you change that fact! Go for it. Fetch!" Gerald said. Arnold cocked an eyebrow at him. "Fetch?" he repeated. "_Really_?"

"Ok, that was weird, I admit that, but you get my point. Why are you being such a wuss?"

"Because… Just because, ok? I can't say."

"Can't or won't?"

"_Can't_. It's… private."

"To whom?"

"Me, Helga and Aaron."

"Something happened?"

"You can say that…"

"… Well, if it's something you promised not to tell, I guess I won't force you, but I'm telling you: just because Aaron has real feelings for Helga, that doesn't mean you have to hold back. You've been in love with that girl for years, and he's only around for another two weeks or so and then his ass is back in New York. It'd be a long distance relationship and those don't usually work out so well."

"I guess I didn't really think about it that way." Arnold said before starting to drink from his glass. _Wait. Real feelings?!_ He repeated in his head, his eyes going wide and stopped drinking. He started coughing in shock. "Are you ok?" Gerald asked as he patted Arnold's back. Arnold turned to look at him. "What do you mean 'real feelings'?!"

"… Oh, that's not what you meant? Huh… then what the hell _did_ happen, man?"

"Never mind that! 'Real feelings', what?"

"Oh, uh, it's just that… I've been suspecting it for a while, but that day Helga fainted and you walked her home after school, he was looking at you with real sadness. I think he's got real feelings towards her."

Arnold felt like puking for some reason, he didn't know which one though. If it was the simply thought of another guy _really_ liking Helga, if it was because it must have been fake, since Aaron was blackmailing her, or if Aaron had fallen in love with her amidst the whole blackmail thing.

Arnold sighed with a growl and took a big gulp from the glass. "So… you didn't realize?" Gerald asked gently, knowing that he was currently very close to a landmine. Arnold opened his mouth as if about to answer, but then he just shook his head in relinquishment. "I'm going dancing with Helga." He announced before gulping the rest of the glass' content down and stood up from his chair.

Arnold walked into the living room and had absolutely no trouble finding Helga. It was never a problem for him to notice her. He stood in the door frame for a bit, gazing at her as she twirled her head around in a circle to the beat of the music. She wasn't dancing with anyone in particular it seemed, so he saw his chance to move in.

Helga lifted her arms high up into the air, until she felt a presence behind her. She was about to turn around to observe the person, until she felt a pair of very familiar hands hold her own. She smiled lovingly as Arnold slowly turned her around to face him.

"So you didn't chicken out." Helga observed as she laid her arms on his shoulders. "No, why would I do that? I don't have to be scared of you, do I, Helga?" Arnold asked with a smirk as he snuck his arms around her waist.

Helga looked pensive for a couple of seconds, but when Arnold gave her a warning look, she simply giggled. "Naw, you're off the hook tonight." She answered. "Oh, really? How come?" he asked with a bit of surprise. "Because tonight's special." She answered seriously.

"Yeah?"

"Uh-huh. It _is_ my first teen party after all." Helga explained with a chuckle. Arnold chuckled along with her, before taking a couple of steps back. He took her hands in his own and lifted them up a bit, signaling for them to start dancing. With a coy smile, she followed his lead perfectly.

* * *

It shouldn't have surprised Arnold that he'd start feeling a little _weird_ after dancing with Helga for this long. Yet, he hadn't expected to feel weird to this extent! The feeling had grown slowly for the last ten minutes, but he didn't truly notice until she had turned her back to him and started grinding her bum against his crotch.

Arnold gasped and pulled back instantly, scared that Helga might notice. She turned around to glance at him over her shoulder. "Something wrong?" she asked, since he had completely let go off her for the first time since they had first started dancing.

"Uh, no… I-I, uh, just need to… go to the bathroom for second, ok?" Arnold answered with an awkward smile before turning around. "Arnold, are you… and you're gone." Helga declared as she watched him walk out of the hallway. _Wait. No way!_ She thought in a slurry voice and started walking after him. "Arnold! Arnold, are you sure you're - - "

"Helga!" a male voice called behind her, before she felt a hand on her shoulder. Helga turned around to face Aaron. "Aaron? What now? What's the matter?" she asked as she forced her head to think normally.

"Uh… can I talk with you for a second?" Aaron asked with an uncomfortable smile. "Uh…" Helga muttered before tuning to look towards the hallway where Arnold had already disappeared. As she sighed she turned to face Aaron again. "Sure. What's up?"

"Uh… I guess you've noticed that Arnold's behaving… oddly?" Aaron asked and gave a nervous chuckle, which made Helga cross her arms in suspicion. "Yeah…?" she answered, inquiring him to continue. "Um… I _may_ or may not know why." He explained, followed by another nervous chuckle.

Helga blinked a couple of times, letting that information sink in. _Oh, no, you didn't._ She thought as she grabbed Aaron's arm and pulled him with her. He followed her obediently, hoping she would be too drunk to properly hit him when he told her the truth.

"All right, bucko, what's going on?" Helga asked when she and Aaron was out in the hallway, out of hearing range from everyone. He gulped nervously and gave yet another nervous chuckle. "Uh… b-before I answer that, then I need you to know that it was an accident, I swear."

Helga simply crossed her arms. "What's going on?" she asked again. Aaron took a deep breath, knowing that testing her patience wouldn't do him any good. "Ok, uh… r-remember how I made Arnold a drink earlier?"

"… Uh-huh."

"I may have accidentally, purely coincidentally - - "

"Get to it!"

"I dropped a pill into his glass!" Aaron exclaimed quickly, already regretting his words. He dared to open his eyes, but Helga was just frowning at him. "A pill? What kind of pill?" she asked, seemingly calm.

"Uh… a _blue_ one." Aaron said, hoping Helga would realize what kind of pill it was simply from that. She just kept looking at him with furrowed eyebrows. "Gotta need more than that, bucko. What kinda pill is blue?" she asked.

"Uh… a blue pill… with a V on it." Aaron answered in a whisper. Helga's frown got deeper. "A blue pill with a V on it? What does the V stand for? Vitamin?" she asked, which made him lean back and give her a look of annoyance and disbelief. "Yes, Helga, I slipped Arnold a vitamin pill because I was concerned for his health. No!" he answered and smacked the back of her head. "Get out of this drunken haze you're in and use that brain of yours!"

"Ow! I am _not_ drunk! At least not a lot. All right, all right. A blue pill with a V on it… Something tells me I should know."

"Yeah, you should! Then again; maybe not. Ok, fine." Aaron moved closer to Helga's ear, begging her closer. She rolled her eyes and leaned her ear against his mouth, listening to his whispered words. Her eyes went wide, as one of her eyebrows quirked. They moved away to look at each other.

Aaron just stood there, waiting for Helga's reaction. He didn't have a clue to what she'd do, and yet he was surprised. For what seemed like forever, she just kept looking at him with a somehow nonchalant stare. Then her eyes narrowed a bit and she opened her mouth to speak. Then she closed and looked away thoughtfully. She repeated this action, while lifting her hand, which she then ran through her hair.

Helga's movements mostly resembled a robot breaking. Her hand twitched in her hair, and her head cocked to the side a couple of times. _Did I break her or something?_ Aaron wondered and lifted his hand to touch her. "Helga, are you - - "

Aaron was silenced by Helga's hand though. She had lifted it to stop him from speaking, while she breathed out heavily. Then she gave a small, almost apologetic smile and walked away from him. He watched her, as she walked through the hallway towards the laundry room. She closed the door behind her and after a few seconds, a muffled scream could be heard.

Despite it being a very Helga like reaction, Aaron couldn't help but roll his eyes. The door opened and she stomped towards him, holding a pillow in her hand – one she had formerly used to cover her scream in frustration.

Aaron didn't realize what Helga was planning to do, until she was only a few feet away from him. She lifted the pillow up in both her hands and then covered his face with it. Not completely though, since she wasn't truly trying to kill him or anything.

"What… is… wrong… with… you?!" Helga shouted in a complete frenzy as she smothered Aaron with the pillow. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" he answered and tried to push the pillow away from his face. "To be fair, it was an accident!"

"_Accident_?! You bought that pill, took it with you here and _dropped_ it into Arnold's glass by _accident_?! I may be blonde, but I'm not that stupid!"

"All right, all right! I _did_ plan to do it, but in the last second I changed my mind!"

Helga groaned as she removed the pillow from Aaron and pointed at him with an accusing finger. "As if that fucking matters! Intentional or not, Arnold's now under the influence of a drug like that, and it's your fault!" she shouted as she panted a bit.

Aaron sighed. "I'm sorry! Honestly, I really am! But that doesn't matter right now! The question is: what do we do now?" he asked with a pant. "_We_ are not doing anything! You've done plenty!" she answered before she threw the pillow into his arms. "_I_ am gonna go find him!"

"And what are you gonna do when you find him?" Aaron asked, as he cradled the pillow in his arms. "I don't know! But… I can't just leave him." Helga answered. "I don't know anything about this kind of thing though, but isn't there something about that it'll hurt after a while if… you know, it's not taken care of?"

Aaron was slightly surprised at Helga's random knowledge of that fact – and that she asked about it like it was no big deal. _Yeah, she's special all right._ He thought as he nodded. "Yeah, that's true." He answered. She sighed. "And this is Arnold we're taking about. He's too polite to do anything about it _here_ in someone else's house."

"Then I guess the hostess has to help him?" Aaron suggested, doing his best not to chuckle. Helga frowned for a second, spending two seconds until she realized what he meant. Her eyes went wide and her lips curled into a big smile. "Aaron!" she chastised and punched his shoulder in embarrassment. _My God! Yeah, big brother is right!_ She thought with her cheeks blushing.

"What? It's a pretty good opportunity, isn't it?" Aaron asked with a smirk. Helga lifted her hands as if about to strangle him, but then she simply held them between them. She looked thoughtful for a second, but then shook her head and let her hands drop. "No way! That'd… That's just wrong! That's…" she wanted to keep argue against it, but it was hard since she could _definitely_ imagine herself taking advantage of this situation.

Helga glanced over her shoulder towards the staircase, where she guessed Arnold had gone up and into the bathroom. She bit at her lower lip a bit. _I really shouldn't…_ she thought in an attempt at convincing herself, but with a gentle push from Aaron, she felt herself walk toward the stairs.

"A hostess has to take care of her guests, right?" Aaron asked with a snicker. Helga cocked her head to the side thoughtfully. "That… _is_ true…" she answered, but then frowned and turned her head around to look at him. "If I didn't know any better, I'd start thinking this whole blackmail thing is just to throw me right into Arnold's arms."

Aaron shook his head and rolled his eyes in amusement. "Go get him, toots." He simply answered. Helga had been about to walk up the stairs, but after that sentence she turned to scowl at him. "Don't call me 'toots'." She said with slight anger and then continued her way upstairs.

Helga went straight to the bathroom. "Arnold?" she asked in a whisper and knocked on the door. When no one answered, she tried asking a little louder. With still no answer, she took that as an ok to walk in. She opened the door, having already figured out the room would be empty, since it hadn't been locked. _Huh, then where did he go?_

Helga closed the bathroom door and looked pensively towards her own room. _That'd make sense… I warned everyone about going into my room, so he knew no one would be in there, since no one would be dumb enough to go against me._ She thought as she went to her own room.

Helga opened the door slowly and peeked in, not sure if she would see something scandalous, like when she had been trapped behind Arnold's couch like at the whole parrot incident. She didn't though. All she could see was Arnold sitting on her bed, obviously trying to breathe his way out of his problem.

Helga couldn't help but roll her eyes. _I may not know a lot about boys, but I doubt that just sitting there will help you, Arnold._ She thought as she was about to walk inside, but then she lost her nerve. She gently closed the door and kept look at the handle.

Helga took a deep breath, nodded with determination and then ran down the stairs. She went into the kitchen instantly, pushing away some people around her. "Hey, Helga, how… You ok?" Phoebe asked, as her blonde friend reached them. "Yeah, I just need a drink." She answered and grabbed the bottle with rum.

"What are you doing _here_?" Aaron asked, suddenly appearing next to Helga. "How rude. It's _her_ house." Gerald pointed out with a frown. "Ignore him, Gerald." Helga answered and opened the bottle. "I just need _one_ drink." She replied to Aaron's question and poured it into a glass.

Aaron rolled his eyes as he watched Helga gulp the whole drink down in one go. "You can't drink your problems away, you know." He pointed out, before she banged the glass down on the table. "Why not? It works for my mom, and it _is_ her alcohol." She answered and let out a huge sigh. "See ya later." She said before she walked towards the hallway. "_Much later_."

As Helga found herself in front of the door to her own room again, she felt courage roam through her body – or maybe it was the rum, who cared? All she knew is that she was ready to jump into the deepest ocean with no safety equipment whatsoever. She was vulnerable, but ready.

Helga slowly opened the door and peeked her head inside. "Arnold?" she asked gently, knowing very well that he was still in there. "Helga?!" Arnold shouted when he saw her at the door. He lifted one of his legs, laid his ankle on his thigh and even laid his arms over his lap to cover himself up as much as possible. "Uh, sorry that I'm so slow at getting downstairs again. I suddenly felt a little… sick."

"Yeah… I know." Helga answered and closed the door behind her. Arnold gave her a confused look. "You _know_?" he repeated, but then his eyes went wide. _Oh, fantastic, she could feel it… Great! This isn't even the first time!_ "Oh… I guess you… noticed, huh?"

"Not really…" Helga admitted, deciding to stay leaned up against the door for now. She didn't want to risk Arnold feeling attacked or such. "You didn't? Then how did you know?" he asked, wondering if he even wanted to know the answer to begin with.

"Uh… Arnold, I have to admit something to you."

"Oh… ok?"

"… Aaron knows that you know."

"… About the - - "

"Yeah."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was trying to compose myself, but I guess I failed, huh?"

"Actually, no. He figured it out on his own, then he tricked me and I admitted it without realizing. I'm the one who failed." Helga explained with a giggle. Arnold chuckled a bit too, hoping it'd lift the tension in the room. "But, uh… what does that have to do with… _you know_?"

"Aaron slipped you… a blue one with a V on it."

"A blue one?"

"A blue pill."

"A blue pill with a V on it?"

"Yep."

"… What?!" Arnold shrieked in pure terror. His eyes were wide, his face flushed and his heart was beating in his throat at this point. "I'm so sorry, Arnold, it's all my fault." Helga said, half being serious half acting a bit. She _did_ feel bad for him though. She had felt the same thing a few days ago, so she knew of the frustration. Yet again, she wasn't _really_ sorry, since… well, it was to her advantage after all. _I am so bad…_ she thought jokingly.

"Uh, no. It's… It's not your fault. I shouldn't have let Aaron give me a drink to begin with." Arnold answered, honestly not even meaning his own words. How could he have known that Aaron knew and that he would actually… what would it even be called, take revenge on him?

"It _is_ my fault. I should have been more cautious. I should have watched him a little more carefully." Helga corrected and then tried to run different ways of proposing her 'help' inside her head. _I gotta be careful about how I convey this…_ "Uh, Arnold?"

"Uh… uh-huh. Yeah?"

"Uh… I don't know if… Do you know much about how those… things works?" Helga asked, doing her best not to blush at the somewhat blunt question. Why was it so much different talking about this with Arnold than it was with Aaron? Oh, right, she wasn't in love with Aaron that was why!

Arnold felt like choking on his own breath. "W-Wh… W-Why would you ask me that? N-No, not really, except… their purpose, of course." He answered with an obvious stutter and his cheeks reddening more and more at the minute.

"Uh, I-I'm asking because… because, you know, these things… they can work up till four hours, you know." Helga pointed out, knowing that she was telling a small lie by doing so. If a pill worked for more than four hours, you were supposed to go see a doctor, but if Arnold didn't know that then… that was his own fault, right?

Arnold's eyes went wide. "Four hours?!" he repeated in shock. Helga nodded shyly. He sighed in slight terror and gulped. "Then… I guess I should just go home." He declared, though he wasn't about to stand up or anything. _Why aren't I getting up? What's holding me back?_ He wondered in his head, having a small clue to why.

"You're gonna walk home like _that_?" Helga asked with a quirked eyebrow. Arnold glanced down towards his growing member and pulled his legs together a little. "I guess not, but… what else am I supposed to do?" he asked.

Helga took a deep breath and lifted her hand to turn the key. She turned it slowly to make as little noise as possible, but Arnold noticed anyhow. "Helga?" he asked with wonder in his voice. He had absolutely no clue to why she had locked the door.

"Uh… you know…" Helga started and lifted her hand to scratch her head in a nervous manner. "This _is_ technically my fault… I-I mean, I kinda feel bad about the whole thing, since… if I had just kept my mouth shut the other day, then this wouldn't have happened… a-and also, I know how you're feeling. I mean, I went through it the other day with the aphrodisiac, right? And, uh… s-so I guess… what I'm trying to say is, uh… um…"

"Helga, you're not making any sense." Arnold interrupted, starting to feel the embarrassment and anticipation to take over. What was Helga trying to say anyway, and why was she being so shy about it? What could possibly make this situation any more embarrassing?

"I… wanna help you." Helga then admitted and shut her eyes tight. That. _That_ could make it a million times more embarrassing! Arnold felt his heart bang against his ribcage, as if trying to escape his body. He felt heat flowing through him at the mere thought of Helga _helping_ him in this way, and the heat seemed to mostly surface around his member. _That_ was definitely not the drug's fault!

"No, wait. That… didn't sound right." Helga said as she lifted her hand to pull up at her hair, in an attempt at doing something to distract her from the situation. Arnold watched her in amusement – despite embarrassment and arousal being the two much bigger feelings – as she shifted on her feet. "Uh… wh-what I meant was… This is all my fault, so… I wanna take responsibility."

Helga felt like banging her head against the wall. _Way to make it sound like a business deal, you moron!_ She chastised and shook her head to show Arnold that wasn't what she meant either. "No, that's not right either. I, uh… I wanna… I, uh, just… Oh, criminy, you know what I mean, don't you?!"

"I'm not sure! I mean… I don't wanna be presumptuous, Helga, but… i-it seriously sounds like you're volunteering to… to…" Arnold couldn't even bring himself to finish the thought without making his heart beat even faster, as if that was even possible at this point. "Are… Are you?"

Helga didn't answer, but simply kept looking at Arnold, hoping for him to catch the message without her having to give her thoughts a voice. She couldn't muster such words, half drunk or not! She could see the wheels in his head turning and finally she could see him realizing the truth behind her words.

"H-Helga, y-y-y-y-you don't have to d-do-do that! I mean… it's not your fault! I'd… feel bad… making you do something… like that." Arnold stuttered, but felt his reluctance waver. Here she was; the girl of his dreams, offering him… _help_.

Arnold's uncertainty in his own words didn't go unnoticed to Helga. She smiled on the inside, knowing that in one way or another, he'd eventually give in, since… well, since he didn't seem to mind the idea so much, which just made her really, really happy.

_All right, Helga, old girl, time to turn it up a notch. You can do this._ Helga thought with a pep talky voice and walked slowly towards Arnold, who looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Or perhaps someone fighting his own sinful needs even. "I-I know I don't _have_ to, Arnold, but… come on, I'd still feel bad just leaving you like this. I may do bad things from time to time, but I always take responsibility in the end, right? Isn't that what _you_ taught me?"

"Well… y-yeah, I m-may have said something like that… but…" Arnold answered and was about to continue speaking, until he and Helga caught a glimpse of each other's eyes. He felt his resolve falter… quite a lot even. There was something in her eyes, which he couldn't quite describe… that just made all his doubts go away. They told him it was ok to give in, and so he did. "Are… Are you sure? I mean… I really don't want you to feel forced into doing this…"

Helga felt her inner self bounce up and down in pure happiness. _Oh, Arnold, my beloved! You're actually gonna let me touch that wonderful body of yours! This is a dream come true! Well, almost, since it's not exactly the ideal place or ideal time or ideal method… but still!_

"It was _my_ suggestion, Arnoldo… I wouldn't suggest something I wasn't comfortable with, right?" Helga asked as she leaned forward, placing her hands on Arnold's thighs, which made him gulp. "Besides… does Helga Pataki _ever_ do anything out of force?"

Arnold chuckled a bit, happy that Helga seemed to be nervous too, yet still try to make the mood less tense. "I guess not… but are you _sure_?" he asked just once more, in a way only to justify his own eagerness for what was to come.

Helga gave Arnold a loving smile, before she placed her hands on his shoulders. "I'm sure…" She answered as she pushed him gently down onto the bed. She put her left knee next to him and then lifted her other leg to place it on his other side thereby straddling him and making him lose his breath. "Worrywart."

Arnold gulped, as he didn't dare to lose eye contact with Helga's azure blue eyes. His own green ones went half-lidded, and he couldn't help but notice his breath getting heavier… and she hadn't even done anything to him yet!

"Uh, but, uh…" Helga said, starting to seem slightly shy again. "In all seriousness… if _you_ get uncomfortable, just say so, ok? I mean… I haven't exactly tried this before, so… t-tell me if I'm doing something wrong or if it… feels bad or something."

_Is it possible to fall in love with the same girl all over again within few seconds?_ Arnold wondered as he felt his heart leap. There was something undeniably cute about _Helga Pataki_ feeling insecure about something as simple as that. Though he knew, it wasn't simple at all. At least not to a girl it wasn't… It was new and maybe even scary.

Arnold lifted his hands to touch both of Helga's cheeks. She looked back at him, her eyes a little big with wonder. "I have a feeling you're gonna be just fine." He said reassuringly. He knew it was the truth after all. He had imagined this moment – albeit not in this way – for so many years that she couldn't possibly fail.

Helga smiled, filled with confidence from that simple sentence from Arnold. "Thanks…" she said gratefully and wondered for a second if she wanted to kiss him, but thought against it. _No… not because of something like this. Not at a party, not half drunk and because of some dumb pill… A kiss is something completely different. A kiss is done with love._ "Uh… wish me luck?"

Arnold chuckled along with Helga who giggled. "I'm at your mercy." He then whispered with a smile and gently let go off her cheeks. She felt heat rise in all of her, realizing that it was now or never… and there was no way she'd choose never.

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: Yes! I'm ending it here! I'm so cruel! xD No, seriously, sorry about the cliffhanger… I hate them myself – When I don't know what will happen that is! xD Sorry! xD I promise the next chapter will be up tomorrow :P No delay!**


	31. Remind me to tell you something

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**Helga brought, unknowingly, a glass of alcohol with a certain pill in it to Arnold at her party. When he practically ran away from her a half hour later, Aaron pulled her aside to admit to her that he had, by accident, slipped Arnold a Viagra pill.**_

_**To Helga's terror, embarrassment and – in a way – gleefulness, Aaron suggested that she had to 'help' Arnold with his current problem… since it was indirectly her fault, and a hostess should always take care of her guests.**_

_**Gulping a whole drink down before meeting Arnold up in her room, she pep talked herself into going through with this very interesting turn of events. Ironically, she had felt earlier that day that something like this would happen… albeit not like this.**_

_**It didn't take much for Arnold to start liking this idea of Helga 'helping' him, since – well – what boy in love wouldn't like a chance like this? After asking her a couple of times if she was 100 % sure that she wanted to do this out of her own free will, she finally just straddled him and told him, with the very true words, that Helga Pataki didn't suggest things she wasn't comfortable with.**_

**Author's 1st note: Warning! Sexual stuff! Oh, shugs, now I gave it away… xD HA! As if you hadn't seen it coming :P (Yeah, yeah, bad pun, I admit it :3)**

* * *

Chapter 31: "Remind me to tell you something when you're sober"

_Ok, Helga, old girl, you can do this… Hell, you've practically been studying for it ever since finding out about sex! You bought a Kama Sutra book and everything! What did that thing say anyway…? Um… Criminy, I can't remember shit! What was the point in buying that stupid thing if you can't even remember anything, you stupid… Ugh, ok, don't panic. It can't be that difficult, right? I mean, it's not exactly rocket science. It's a dick; how hard can it be?_

Helga had been about to move her hand towards Arnold's hips, until her last words repeated themselves in her head. _Really…? Whoa, that's really classy, brain, thank you very much for that. Focus! Just… instincts! Yeah, instincts. Millions of girls have done it before me and succeeded, and I'm not an idiot… No, wait, I am, I can't even remember one bloody tip from a Kama Sutra book! How am I gonna pass my exams with a brain like that?_

"Uh, Helga…? Are you all right?" Arnold asked gently, having been observing her frequently changing facial expressions for the last minute. Her eyes went wide open and, in a way out of panic, her hand simply went straight to his member and cupped it.

Arnold gasped in shock at the feeling of Helga's hand cupping him slightly roughly, though not uncomfortably. "Oh, sorry!" she exclaimed, already wanting to just pound herself into a pulp. She was about to move her hand from him, until he grabbed her wrist with something in his eyes, she couldn't quite describe. "Ah, no, don't!"

Helga and Arnold froze in this position, with him holding her wrist near his crotch. He felt like slapping himself. He had just exposed some very embarrassing lusts within him, and he slowly let go of her with embarrassment booming all over him in the form of a deep blush. "S-Sorry…" he muttered and looked away from her.

Helga felt like giggling, chuckling and just downright roll on the floor with laughter in happiness. "Ok. Sheesh. I won't let go then." She said with mock surrender. Arnold groaned and lifted his arms to cover his face with it in embarrassment. "Can we forget I did that?"

"Hell no!" Helga answered with a kindhearted chuckle. Arnold groaned again, though this time a small smile appeared on his lips, she noticed. She took a deep breath and then let her hand land on his hardened member again, this time more carefully. Her eyes went straight to look at his almost fully covered face, but she could see his mouth gasp inaudibly.

_Now, that's no fun… I wanna hear you, Arnold._ Helga thought with a bit of glee and then squeezed a little. That made Arnold gasp again, this time with a husky sound. She couldn't help but smile. _If this is all it takes for you to feel like that… I wonder if you'll be able to handle much else?_

With those encouraging thoughts, Helga decided to play this a little mean – she _was_ Helga G. Pataki after all. She let her fingers stretch and then curl again into a fist around his manhood a couple of times, earning a series of obvious detained moans. _Come on, don't be stubborn._ She thought as she lifted her hand up towards his belt.

Helga felt Arnold flinch beneath her hand, but he didn't move away and neither did she. Biting her lower lip in a gleeful way, she let her fingers tap slowly down his zipper, doing her best to tease him a bit. It worked. He was already starting to feel frustrated. _I should have known she'd do something like this. She's cruel._ He thought just before she grabbed his balls tightly. _Yes! Cruel! Cruel, cruel, cruel!_

Helga had almost chuckled, when Arnold's hips had moved up towards her hand at her touch. _All right, all right. I'm eager too, you know?_ She thought inside her head and let two of her fingers grab his zipper. She watched his face, as she slowly pulled it down, hoping for a positive reaction. As soon as the zipper went down, he gulped nervously, which she smiled at.

Helga dared to catch a glimpse down near Arnold's lower region, even if to just look at his boxers. They were black. In a way, she was relieved and in a way, she was disappointed. She hadn't expected there to be small bunnies or even tinier Arnold's hat lookalikes, but she had expected _something. Oh, well. But… now what? Pull his pants down, yeah, but doesn't he have to stand up for me to do that?_

Helga looked at Arnold's face, or rather his half-covered face. _No way! I'm not gonna ask him to stand up in this situation! I just gotta… make sure I do this the right way._ She looked towards his hips and looked at the belt. _Good place to start. I saw this in a movie once. I wonder if I can pull it off? Like, literally._

Helga repositioned herself so that she was sitting on her knees next to Arnold, right next to his hips to be exact. She could feel him move his arms a bit, probably wondering what she was doing exactly, but she didn't let it bother her. She opened his belt without much trouble and then grabbed ahold of one of its ends.

Arnold frowned a bit at the motion. _Wait, she doesn't think she can just pull it out like that, right?_ He managed to finish that one thought, before he felt the belt twirl around his hips. He lifted his waist up, giving it room and then, within few seconds, the belt was off.

Helga, with a victorious smile, lifted the belt up into her hands and stretched it. "Didn't think I could pull that off, did you?" she asked with a cocky grin. "Literally." Arnold added with a chuckle. _I gotta admit. I didn't think she'd be this good at it. Not that I mind…_

"Ok, uh… I might need help with this though." Helga admitted, feeling a little bit of her ego leave her, since it was an annoying thing to declare. Arnold looked down at his pants, realizing what she meant. With a shy cough, he grabbed the hem of his pants and pulled them down towards his thighs. As soon as they were down to that point, she instantly took over. By doing so, her face got very close to his and they caught a glimpse of each other's eyes again.

Helga almost leaned forward to kiss Arnold, but then shut her eyes tight and simply continued pulling his pants down. Taking a deep breath in and blowing it out again, she pulled his pants off and hauled off his shoes in the process. Just wanting to get this awkward part over with, she grabbed his black socks and threw them somewhere near the shoes. _Somewhat._

_Now what?_ Helga thought with a small frown. _Besides the obvious, of course…_ She added and smiled up at Arnold. He smiled back, though his smile was much less sincere. He felt like fainting at this point, and he didn't really have it in him to pull at his cheeks muscles whatsoever.

Helga pulled herself onto the bed with determination. Following her lead, Arnold slid back as well, waiting for her to either give him instructions or simply… well, as he had assumed, she just pushed him back onto the bed again. She stayed lying next to him, as her hand moved towards his groin again.

Arnold closed his eyes, took a deep breath and waited for Helga to reach him. When she did, he gasped softly. She kept rubbing her hand against his member, trying to get a rhythm going. Which turned out to be easy, since the music downstairs was loud enough for her to simply follow that beat.

_Hmm, when they say it gets hard, they mean really hard! I mean, I've felt it before, but not with my hands… Screw it! I can't wait! Sorry if I'm going too fast, Arnold._ Helga thought eagerly, before lifting her hand and immediately sliding it under his boxers.

This time, Arnold gasped so loudly, that he automatically pulled his hand up to his mouth to cover it. "Sorry! Did I hurt you?" Helga asked in slight panic. _Was I too rough?_ She wondered, but he shook his head sluggishly. "Ah, no… you just surprised me." He answered after removing his hand from his mouth.

Arnold dared to look up at Helga again, noticing the faint blush on her cheeks. It wasn't a surprise really, considering what they were doing, and yet it made his heart beat faster, though he had deemed it as impossible earlier.

"O-Ok." Helga simply said and pushed her hand into Arnold's boxers again. He shut his eyes tight, feeling his breath catch in his throat. Her hand was moving slowly and smoothly up and down against him, and despite it being such a simple thing then it was all it took for him almost to lose his mind. _How can it be this different just because it's Helga?! Oh, God!_

_Even just by feeling it, I know it's way bigger than when we were 9 years old… Well, doi, but still. I wonder if his grandpa would keep calling him short man, if he knew the length of that part of him?_ Helga thought with a silent snicker._ 'Short man' sure doesn't fit this part of him… Even with nothing to compare to, I'm pretty sure he's not average. I wouldn't care even if the nickname did suit every part of him though. He's my Arnold, even if he someday grows two heads taller than me or becomes a munchkin._

Helga smiled lovingly, before she slowly pulled her hand out of Arnold's boxers. "Helga…" he whimpered and opened his eyes to look at her with something that resembled puppy dog eyes. _Oh, my God, you're adorable!_ She thought, but couldn't help but roll her eyes at him.

"I'm just gonna pull your boxers down, Arnold, if you don't mind?" Helga asked mockingly with an eyebrow quirked. When Arnold realized what kind of face and what kind of voice he had just made, he lifted his hand to hide his face from her. "Just… ignore me, please? Can we forget I just did that?"

"No way; I'm not gonna let you forget _anything_ from tonight." Helga answered sardonically and went to grab the hem of Arnold's boxers. She noticed him starting to smile. "As if I ever could." He added and laid his arm over his face.

Helga knew that technically that statement could be considered both bad and good, but she decided to hope for the latter. With a deep breath, she went to pull his boxers down. As she crawled a bit to pull them down, she eyed his member in the corner of her eyes. She almost fell forward from feeling her heart thump in her chest at the view. She managed to steady herself though and pulled the boxers down without much trouble. _My God… if Arnold and I ever move in together, I think I'd force him to walk around naked all the time…_

Helga threw the boxers carelessly onto the floor; she didn't really care where they went after all. _Ok, this is it. Not more barriers between me and Arnold… or my hands and Arnold, so to speak. I can do this._ She thought with determination and turned around to face him, though she made sure to look at his face out of respect. She figured anyone would be embarrassed enough as it was even without their partner staring at them.

Helga laid herself next to Arnold, making sure to stick to him as close as possible, hoping for a chance to feel him a little more. He didn't seem to mind, so she shifted just a little closer, letting her leg rub a little against his.

Arnold closed his eyes shyly, which Helga was actually thankful for. It felt at least a little less awkward having him not look at her. With yet another determined breath, she let her hand slide from his thigh to his manhood again and started stroking it.

Arnold gasped, but then bit on his lips to keep quiet. Helga frowned at that. _Oh, no, you don't._ She thought as her grip got tighter. He gasped again, this time followed by a series of moans. _Oh, God… No… I need to keep quiet…_ He thought stubbornly and lifted his hand to cover his mouth again.

Helga rolled her eyes. _Man, you're stubborn! Why are you being so shy?_ She thought in annoyance, but then her eyes went wide, as she realized what Arnold must have been thinking. She smiled overbearingly and let her mouth get as close to his ear as possible.

"They can't hear you, bucko. The music's too loud." Helga whispered and deliberately blew a little on Arnold's neck to tease him. He gasped at that intense feeling it gave him, and he removed his hand just a bit. He wasn't completely convinced, she noted, but his reluctance was falling.

Helga's eyes went towards Arnold's hand, and she figured out a way to keep him… well, _not_ quiet. While her right hand never let go of his member for even a second, she moved her left arm above his head and grabbed his hand. He looked towards their hands, as she intertwined their fingers, making sure he couldn't pull his hand back. Since he had his right arm beneath her body, he couldn't move at all at this point.

"Helga! But, what if we're heard?" Arnold asked, while struggling with his breath. Helga simply giggled gleefully at him though. "We _won't_. You hear that?" she asked, before she grabbed his smaller head a little roughly. He gasped loudly in pleasure.

"See? The music's still louder than you, football head…" Helga pointed out in a whisper and looked at Arnold with a pair of half-lidded, seductive eyes. He felt anticipation build within him. It was obvious with the way she was looking at him, that she was planning some words that would blow his mind. "_I'm_ the only one who can hear you…"

Arnold moaned loudly and arched his back against Helga's hand. "Oh, God!" he said with a panting voice, feeling himself getting closer at the second. _How does she do that? How does she know what to say to make me go crazy?_ He wondered briefly, but instantly succumbed to the pleasure. He dared to look into her eyes once more though, before he shut his eyes tight again. _Why do I feel like a succubus is in front of me?_

"Though, you _are_ on the right track, I _guess_…" Helga suddenly added with a thoughtful and mockingly innocent smile. Arnold opened his eyes again, confused by this statement. "I mean…" she continued. "If anyone started to notice that you and I have disappeared… who _knows_ what they'll start thinking?"

Arnold felt like laughing and groan at the same time. This was so typical of Helga; to push him to his very limits. "So… _what_, you… want me to just give in already… so to speak?" he asked with a disbelieving smile, and yet he was mostly smiling out of pleasure.

Helga shrugged. "Anything that could make this go any faster, paste for brains?" she asked teasingly. Arnold didn't even need a second to think about it; his eyes answered that question for him. They went to look at her chest instantly.

Helga looked down, as if she didn't know what Arnold was looking at and then rolled her eyes. "Typical." She stated overbearingly, though she truly didn't mind his choice. He shook his head in embarrassment. "S-Sorry! I-I didn't mean to. My body moved on its - - "

"It's ok." Helga interrupted and stopped stroking Arnold to give him a chance to think or move or whatever he'd do. He looked at her in a mix of eagerness and wonder. "R… R-Really? I can?" he asked insecurely. _Again: You're so cute!_ She thought with a smile and nodded reassuringly.

Then, it was almost as if something snapped in Arnold's body and his mind went blank. Before Helga could even react, he grabbed her wrists and turned both of them around, now having his legs between hers. "Arnold?!" she shrieked in shock, but it instantly fainted into a moan as his mouth went to kiss one of her breasts.

Helga's hips automatically bucked up against Arnold's, which, made him moan against her chest. She could feel his breath tickle her neck, as he kissed her collarbone, completely devouring her at this point. "Arnold!" she gasped again in pleasure and snuck her legs around his waist to pull him closer. She could feel him bend his knees to grind himself against her, and she loved it.

When Helga tried to wiggle her wrists out of Arnold's grip, only to touch him too, he lifted her arms high above her head. She looked at him in disbelief and that was when she noticed a slightly familiar smile on his face. _Oh, God! It's that look… Dark Arnold!_ She thought just before he moved one of his hands to hold both of her wrists, while the other hand went to touch her breast.

Helga gasped again and arched her back to push her chest into Arnold's hand. His grip was firm as he was kneading her left breast. He moved his mouth to the right one and kissed it through the fabric.

"Just take it off already!" Helga exclaimed in frustration and bucked her hips up against Arnold's pelvis to seduce him into doing as she ordered. It was unnecessary, since he had already moved his hand to the hem of her tank top. He pulled it up roughly and lifted it just above her breasts to reveal her plaid bra.

As Arnold was just about to kiss Helga's almost bare chest, he stopped short when she panted his name out. In some weird way, that got him out of whatever trance he had been in. He felt his face blush intensely and he moved his face away from her chest. "S-Sorry… I didn't mean to go crazy." He explained shyly.

Helga panted for a couple of seconds, before she was capable of answering. "Y-Yeah! Geez, Arnoldo, what was with that? I told you to give in, not to take over!" she said with a smirk and then pulled her wrists out of his grip.

While pushing at Arnold's chest, Helga snuck her legs around his waist again. With a rough push, she managed to pull herself up as she pushed him up. He looked at her in pure amazement, when he felt her sitting on his lap. He couldn't believe his legs had automatically pulled themselves into a sitting position so quickly.

"What kinda girl trick is that?" Arnold asked with a crooked smile. "A Helga Pataki one." Helga answered with a proud smirk. They chuckled together for a second, feeling the tension fall and the anticipation rise.

Arnold had felt the feeling of having Helga sit on his lap before, but not with their fronts turned at each other's like this. He could feel her bare stomach against his, and it made him frown, since his upper body was still completely covered. He was still the more naked one though.

Helga started biting at her lower lip, smirking in a cocky way. Arnold felt her hand slide down his chest and then straight for his manhood again. He gasped and leaned automatically forward, letting his forehead land on her shoulder, as she started stroking him again.

_Whoa, did Arnold get harder after touching me? Or is it my imagination…?_ Helga wondered for a second, but then felt Arnold's hand touch her hips gently. He let his fingers glide up on the side of her body, making her feel ticklish all of a sudden. She pulled her free hand away and planted it behind her on the bed, thereby bending a little away from him, but also showing herself off more.

Arnold smiled a bit, as his hand continued its way to Helga's breast. He watched with joy while she gasped in pleasure. He put his free hand on her lower back to keep her steady, and she smiled in appreciation.

Arnold had to stop his fingertips from pulling Helga's bra down. His hand kept kneading her breast, but the fingertips also snuck their way down the pad a couple of times, mostly involuntarily. "Arnold…" she said, interrupting their moaning and panting for a couple of seconds. "If there's something that you want… then just _say_ it."

Helga had expected Arnold to give in and tell her what it was he wanted since his eyes had seemed to have been reassured by her words, but rather than saying anything, he slid his forefinger in-between the pads of her bra. Her eyes went wide, as he smirked at her and pulled her slowly closer to him. _M-Must have been a relapse to his darker side…_ She figured with a shy smile.

Still with the smirk on his lips, Arnold moved his hand to Helga's stomach. For a second, she was sure he'd move it down towards her southern area, but then he slowly slid it upwards towards her chest. It took her a couple of seconds, before she let her head whip back in pleasure, while he slid his hand up under her bra. "Oh… _God_…!" she gasped as she felt his fingers play with one of her nipples.

After doing that for far too shortly, Arnold moved his other hand under Helga's other breast and started to pull the bra up. She was about to give him a questioning look, wondering why he didn't just open it on the back, but she forgot logic when she felt his tongue flick against her other nipple.

Helga couldn't help it; She moved her free hand up to her mouth and tried to muffle her moans. She couldn't even focus on her own task to stroke Arnold anymore; that was how good she felt. She heard him chuckle near her throat. "Who's holding back _now_?" he asked before letting his tongue give her throat a quick lick.

Helga gasped at that and then removed her hand from her mouth a bit. "Ah, b-but… I'm louder than you." she answered lamely with a bit of stutter to her voice. Arnold smirked at her and let the tip of his nose touch hers. "I don't mind."

Helga felt her heart stop beating and all heat rise to her cheeks. She gasped again though, when she felt Arnold's hand grind up against her breast again. She – completely on purpose this time – swayed her hips against his stomach, making sure to touch his hardened manhood.

Arnold gasped at the feeling, like Helga had foreseen, but then a thought occurred to her. "Oh, I'm sorry." She said with slight worry. He frowned at her in confusion. "Huh?" he muttered. "My jeans… they must feel a little… S-Sorry. I didn't think of that." she explained and then dismounted him.

Arnold looked at Helga in confusion, as she started to pull down her jeans. He had been about to correct her misunderstanding – thinking that her jeans felt too rough against his naked form – but caught himself not correcting her. He couldn't help it; seeing her undressing herself in front of him did things to him he couldn't explain.

When Helga had discarded her jeans on the floor, she glanced at Arnold over her shoulder. There was a mix of innocence and lust in her eyes, which made him crawl over to her. She had been about to turn around, but then he cupped her breasts from behind. She gasped at this new sensation and laid the back of her head on his shoulder, giving him a full view of her.

Arnold started playing with Helga's nipples, feeling himself getting so very close already. When she moved her hand to stroke him yet again, he gasped in shock and put his hands to her hips to stop her. "W-Wait." He begged with a pant.

"Why?" Helga asked in confusion and disappointment, as she looked at Arnold over her shoulder again. _I… I can't tell her. I can't say that I want this moment to last a little longer… but what do I say then?_ "Uh… I-I just figured that… um… I don't know." He then admitted in defeat.

Helga frowned in confusion. _Must be a guy thing… or an Arnold thing; who knows?_ She thought as she eyed Arnold's member a little. _I wonder if… I'd be pushing my limits if… Th-Then again… but, uh, he's still a guy, so he probably wouldn't mind… but he's Arnold, so maybe he'd be too shy… Ah, hell, I'll just go for it._

"Uh, Arnold… in fact, maybe we should try and finish this as quickly as possible? I mean… we've already been up here for quite a while. Drunk or not, people are gonna notice sooner or later, right?" Helga asked with a bit of a red tint to her cheeks. "Oh, uh, yeah…" Arnold agreed with only a little bit of reluctance. _Perhaps that would be better… My mind will blow soon anyway; my body might as well join it…_

"So… if you don't… I-I mean, I might be overstepping my boundaries here, but, uh… if you don't mind then… can I try… something? E-Even if it's mostly out of curiosity?" Helga asked. Arnold frowned at her obvious shyness and perhaps even shame of her own question. "Uh… s-sure." He answered, figuring that no matter what she was talking about, he wouldn't mind. Not at all.

"O-Ok… Could, uh… Could you do me a favor?" Helga asked. Arnold nodded slowly. She crawled across the bed and went to stand on the floor next to it. She pulled down at her bra, mostly because it was getting a little uncomfortable having it above her breasts like that and turned around. She smirked and waved her index finger in a gesture to make him come over to her.

Arnold lifted his body with his hands and jumped closer to her. Helga then gripped the hollow of his knees and pulled him roughly closer to her. He gasped for a second, but then just smiled at her very welcome forcefulness.

"Could… Could you close your eyes?" Helga asked shyly, the sound of her voice not matching her former rough actions. Arnold smiled a bit and then closed his eyes. _Well, aren't we being submissive all of a sudden…_ She couldn't help but note and then pushed him gently down, so that he was lying on the bed with his feet planted solidly on the floor.

Helga took a deep breath and then went to her knees. She eyed Arnold's member for a second, before grabbing it carefully. He gasped a bit, but not nearly as much as he had done the first time she'd touched him. _Oh, God, he's gonna freak at this…_ She thought with a bit of glee and nervousness. Sucking as much air as she could into her lungs, she then held his manhood steady in her hands and slid it into her mouth.

With a loud gasp, Arnold bolted himself up into Helga's mouth, almost making her choke. She pulled away immediately and held her throat in shock. "Arnold!" she chastised in surprise. "Sorry!" he said in pure terror and sat up to look at her. "B-But you should have warned me!"

"What? Did it feel that terrible?"

"_No_! Idiot! It felt so good that I almost - - " Arnold stopped talking after admitting that. He and Helga just kept staring at each other, both blushing more and more at the second. He looked away in embarrassment. "S-So… it didn't hurt or anything?" she asked shyly.

Arnold lifted his hand to cover his face and then shook his head. "_No_! You just surprised me… a lot. H-Helga, I'm already at my limit here, so… if I haven't completely freaked you out and I… and I promise not to do that again… then could you… do that again… please?" he asked with such obvious shyness, embarrassment and yet so much plead that he could have asked her to kill someone and she'd done it.

It was Helga's time to snap. Knowing that she could do something that would make Arnold feel so good to the extent of him _begging_ her to continue, made her grab him roughly. He only just managed to remove his hand from his face to look at her, before she already had him in his mouth again.

Arnold gasped and dug his fingernails into the bed to make sure he kept his promise. Helga was acting purely on instinct, sneaking her arm behind his waist to keep him closer to her and using her other hand to hold him steady. She was bopping her head up and down on him, stopping for five seconds to roll her tongue around the head.

_Oh, God, how does she do that?!_ Arnold thought while moaning loudly. There was no way he could hold back at this point, and he didn't care if the music suddenly went mute and the whole planet would hear him; he cried out in lust as he finally reached the peak of pleasure.

Helga gasped a bit when she felt a certain substance enter her mouth. She shut her eyes tight and just focused on not accidentally letting go of him and then having to search her room for semen the next ten minutes.

"H-Helga, I'm sorry… I didn't get to warn you…" Arnold mumbled while trying to steady his breath. Helga didn't move at first, but then slowly lifted her head, making sure to keep her lips tight as she let go of him. She looked into his eyes as she swallowed, and it almost made him hard again at seeing that.

Helga looked pensive. So very, very pensive. "Huh…" she muttered with something that seemed like wonder. "Uh… w-what?" Arnold asked, not sure if he wanted to know what had surprised her this much. "Oh, it's just… I've heard it's supposed to taste really… really… bad, but… it was just salty." She explained.

Arnold's whole body flinched at Helga's honesty, but he had to chuckle at it too, since it was somewhat of a compliment. "Uh… th-that really depends on what the guy eats…" he explained with a shy cough. She cocked her head to the side. "It does?"

Arnold nodded. "Yeah… I-I eat a lot of fruit, so… Wait, why am I telling you this?" he wondered aloud in embarrassment. "Wait! Does that mean that… bitter stuff would make it, well, bitter?" Helga asked curiously.

"Well, yeah. Like smoking and drinking coffee would probably make it bitter." Arnold explained, still feeling a little shy about the subject. However, all things considered, he had almost used up all of his shyness at this point.

Helga looked pensively for a few seconds, but then smirked again. "Just out of curiosity… does Gerald drink a lot of coffee?" she asked. Arnold quirked an eyebrow at her question and nodded. "Yeah. Like two or three cups a day." He answered with a smile.

"Huh." Helga declared simply before standing up. "Let me guess: Phoebe's been complaining?" Arnold asked curiously. She turned around, still wearing a smirk on that pretty face of hers. "Now, Arnold, I really shouldn't tell on my friends, but, uh… let's just say that you should probably give him a few tips."

* * *

After both blonde teens had gotten themselves dressed, they went on their way downstairs. They turned to smile at each other, a little shyly but mostly giddily, before Phoebe and Gerald found them in the living room. "Helga, where did you go?" Phoebe asked with a slurry voice. "The other girls are tired and don't wanna dance with me!"

"Oh, poor baby. I'll dance with you." Helga said with a smile and turned to glance at Arnold, giving him a much different smile. "I'll see you later, Arnold?" she asked. He sighed in happiness, but then tried to hide it with a cough. "Uh, yeah, sure. See you later, Helga." He answered and watched the girls walk towards the stereo.

Arnold was fully ready to emerge himself into a daydream about what had just happened between him and Helga. That was, until he was punched at the arm by Gerald. "Ow! Gerald!" he exclaimed and started rubbing the sore spot.

"Don't ''Gerald' me!"

"… Then what _do_ you want me to call you?"

"Not the point! Where did you and Helga go?" Gerald asked in a frenzy. Arnold blushed immediately and started scratching the back of his head. "Uh…. N-Nowhere." He lied and turned to glance at Helga, who was already dancing with Phoebe.

"Don't give me that! You two were gone for almost a half hour! What happened?" Gerald asked annoyed, until he noticed the smile on Arnold's face. His eyebrows furrowed in suspicion before he turned to look at Helga. She was dancing with Phoebe, but she was clearly looking at Arnold, giving him a rather flirtatious glance.

Gerald turned to look at Arnold again and crossed his arms. "Ok, that's it. Time to spit out the details, man." He said. Arnold looked at the floor, giving a rather happy smile. "Um… remember that time when I told you that there was no way a…" his voice went into a whisper. "… blowjob could be as good as you claimed?"

Gerald's eyes went wide and so did his smile. "Yeah?" he inquired eagerly. "Well… Forget I said that." Arnold continued, starting to smile _very_ broadly himself. Gerald's eyes went even wider and he turned to look at Helga and then back at Arnold. "No way! _Pataki_ gave you a b - - "

"Your voice is too loud!" Arnold interrupted and covered Gerald's mouth with his hand, but he kept smiling like a child who had just been giving the best present ever on Christmas Eve. Gerald removed his hand and just hoorayed in happiness. "Congratulations, Arnold, you're finally a man! Well, almost. We gotta celebrate!"

Gerald snuck his arm over Arnold's shoulders and gave him a sideways hug. Both boys laughed loudly together, as they walked through the living room towards the kitchen. Arnold caught a glimpse of Helga as she leaned back, shaking her shoulders. She opened her eyes, noticing him gawking at her and then winked at him.

Arnold just sighed happily, not caring who might have seen him looking that lovingly at Helga, and then followed Gerald into the kitchen. Helga giggled and turned to look at Phoebe, who was smiling right back at her. "Remind me to tell you something when you're sober, ok, Phoebs?" she asked of her, simply earning a thumbs-up from her drunken friend. _Best… blackmail… ever!_ Helga thought as she continued dancing through the rest of the night.

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: You got a long chapter this time! They're usually around 5.000; This one's above 6.000 words! xD First sexual scene – not the last :P So, what are your thoughts? What do you think will happen next? I can tell you that the next chapter will start on the following week. Nothing more's gonna happen at this party ;)**


	32. You trying to give me a heart attack?

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**Thanks to Aaron for a, perhaps, not so unfortunate accident, Helga and Arnold ended up having their first sexual encounter. Though they didn't go all the way, both blonde teens continued that evening feeling very happy about themselves and their newborn relationship.**_

_**But what would this kind of thing lead to? Helga and Arnold are in love without knowing the other one is too, and now, when a chance of a deeper relationship is out there, then can they grab it or will they feel caught somewhere in the middle?**_

**Author's 1st note: Now! Arnold and Helga have reached a point of no return. No one can back to "just being friends" after such a thing – even if it doesn't mean you'll become lovers xD (trust me, I know :P)**

**One more thing: Stop thinking it's confession time, damn it! xD This story ends when Aaron goes home at 4th of May, and the second party at Helga's house was at 20th April… You really think it's confession time already? xD**

**An argument was: "There's no way they'd think the other would do sexual stuff with them without being in love with them." Um, I can speak from my own experience here: YES! Yes, you can xD Yes, you can do sexual stuff and still doubt the feelings of the other person – Even if it's a first time experience. ESPECIALLY if you're scared out of your freaking mind about the answer (this part is not from my experience though, I'm speaking on Helga and Arnold's behalf here.) The ridiculous denseness will be explained later, people! :P Haha, just wanted to make that clear once and for all. Now, on with it! xD**

* * *

Chapter 32: "You trying to give me a heart attack?!"

Arnold had never quite felt this way before. It was like this one feeling was consuming his entire being completely and there was no way he could escape, even if he wished to. He was completely indulged in her advances towards him, and he was at her mercy.

Helga was hovering above Arnold, the tips of her soft, blonde curls tickling his cheeks and neck, her azure blue eyes looking at him as if she could see right into his soul and see herself, her body pressed gently against his, letting him feel her entire form.

She finally kissed him, letting him taste her lips for the first time ever, and she made him feel like he could never let go again. He lifted his arms, pulled her closer and he could hear her moan into his mouth, which gave him chills because it was the most wonderful sound he'd ever heard.

Helga's legs, which were placed on each side of Arnold's waist, tightened around him, while she grabbed his cheeks. With a cocky smile, she lifted him up from the soft fabric he'd been laid upon a minute ago. He simply let his body follow her hands, as a puppet would follow its puppeteer. He was smiling dazedly at her, feeling like he was on cloud 9, when she kissed him again.

Arnold laid his hands on Helga's hips and she started teasing him by bucking her pelvis against his growing member. He could feel it and her stomach pressed up against him, and he gasped into her mouth at the feeling. She removed her lips from his and kissed his nose, then his cheek, his forehead and the corner of his mouth. She was raining butterfly kisses all over his face, and he almost felt as if he was trying to chase her lips as she did so.

Helga finally grabbed Arnold's cheeks to stop both of their heads from moving and she let him have her lips again. He let his tongue poke at her lips, and she granted him entrance instantly. He could hear his own moans mixed up with hers and it was like a church's choir to him.

This was where he belonged. This was where he wanted to be. On cloud 9 with the girl of his dreams, consumed by the love around him and the innocence and purity of being truly in love. So… why did the image change?

Arnold felt himself get pushed onto the bed roughly. He yelped at the feeling, and shook his head before he opened his eyes to look up at Helga. The loving smile on her lips were gone and were replaced with something that looked like a doll's face. Cold. Emotionless. Scary. So very, very scary.

"Man, you really are troublesome, you know? Couldn't even notice some dumb pill, huh? Now I have to do this _again_, just because you're so stupid." Helga said, followed by an exasperated sigh. Arnold wanted to tell her 'no', that she didn't have to do this, but before he could voice his thoughts, his boxers disappeared with a violent rip and he felt her mouth consume him.

Arnold gasped at the wonderful feeling, but with the wonderful feeling was also guilt and pain, because Helga wasn't doing this out of love: She was doing it out of responsibility. Even her movements were somewhat cold and forceful, like she wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible.

Arnold started muttering his disagrees to the situation, and his head started to rock from side to side as if telling himself and her no. His body started shaking, before he finally just sat up straight, his eyes wide and his breath caught in his throat.

The continuous sound of his home-made clock, repeating the words 'Hey Arnold' was the only sound he could hear through the room, besides his own panicked panting. He looked towards the clock and lifted his hand to bang on it, angrily.

Arnold fell to his bed after that and looked up into his skylight. His chest moved up and down as he tried to steady his shaky breath. "Not again…" he begged aloud and lifted his arm to cover his eyes with it. "Please… no more dreams like that. I get it… I get it…"

Indeed, Arnold had been having dreams resembling this one for the last couple of days. Ever since seeing Helga again at Monday, he had started feeling odd around her. It had been minimal at first. In the beginning, he had simply started to feel aroused simply by the look of her. Embarrassing as that had been, then it had been acceptable. His dream that night had been erotic.

At Tuesday, it had gotten worse. Arnold had felt his entire body heating up and all sorts of images of erotic nature roamed through his mind. His dream that night had been one of the most lustful ones in his entire life.

At Wednesday, he had felt so aroused around her, that he had almost went into the janitor's closet to get rid of the feeling consuming his body. That was when the dreams of erotic nature become cruel. It had started out with her wanting it as badly as him, and then she had gone cold and emotionless, pointing out how she was doing this only because she felt responsible for the way he felt.

At Thursday, Arnold had tried to ignore Helga completely, even avoiding looking at her, because the guilt was eating him up. He tried telling himself that he had been drunk, been under the influence of Viagra, that his actions that night had been justified, but something inside him was still eating him up on the inside.

Now, Friday, he attempted to avoid her yet again. It was easy this day, since she seemed to be as interest in seeing him, as he was in seeing her. That being said, it wasn't because he had started hating Helga for what they had done: He had started hating himself. He had never imagined doing something like that with her out of… lust. Because that was what it had been: Lust, alcohol and guilt. He had that she had done it out of responsibility, and he hated himself for having let his body control his mind that night.

"You can't keep avoiding Helga, you know." Gerald pointed out as he and Arnold were on their way home from school that day. "I… I know, but… just believe me when I say that I _have_ to at the moment, ok?" Arnold answered with a sigh.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it: It's complicated and you can't explain it to me. I still think you're crazy though. The girl did it out of her own free will, right? It wasn't like you raped her or anything."

"Please, don't… don't use that word right now. I know you're right, but I feel awful enough as it is."

"You're kidding me! Didn't you tell me it was her idea to begin with?"

"Gerald! That's what I mean by complicated: There's details in this situation that I can't tell you, but which changes the situation a lot. L-Let me try and say it this way: In a way, she… did it out of responsibility." Arnold tried to explain, without having to reveal Helga's secret.

Gerald stopped walking and looked at Arnold with disbelief. "Saying something as insane as that is only gonna make me feel even more curious. What's the big secret anyway? No, wait, never mind, you're not gonna tell me anyway. Let me guess: It's Helga's secret, whatever it is, right?"

"Yeah…"

"And let me guess something else: The reason for your unnecessary guilt trip, is because you feel that you shouldn't have let her do that to you out of 'responsibility' as you call it?"

"Pretty much." Arnold answered. He and Gerald sighed in unison. "You live a complicated life, Arnold." Gerald observed with a weak smile. The corner of Arnold's mouth went up for a second, but only a second, as he sighed again. _This is horrible… I have no clue what to do about this. Despite feeling this guilty about it, I still feel aroused every time I'm near her. I feel disgusting. What if she figures it out and starts thinking I'm disgusting? If she doesn't already…_

* * *

Helga, much like Arnold, didn't feel so great either through this week, though that wasn't because of bad dreams or because of guilt: It was because of insecurity. Arnold had been avoiding her a lot, and even if she had been confused by it in the beginning, then she had tilted over to what she thought could be the only explanation: He found her disgusting.

Helga sighed as that word roamed through her head again and she lifted her hands to mess up her hair. She was sitting in her room, just waiting for the weekend to properly begin, which was already now, but it was still Friday after all.

Like Arnold, Helga had started to wonder if he had been more drunk than she'd figured. It wasn't like she had kept track of how much he'd been drinking that night. Plus, he was kinda in a predicament that night. It wasn't like he had felt like that, because she had _made_ him feel like that. It was because of a pill that he felt aroused!

Helga sighed again and let herself fall onto her bed. What if Arnold really _did_ find her disgusting? If he started thinking that she would have done that for any guy if Aaron had slipped someone else a pill like that because of her? What if he simply just didn't want _her_ to be the one to have done it? What if…

Helga stopped thinking all together at that point. She sat up in her bed, her scowl getting deeper and deeper at the second. _No… No! I'm done with this! I'm not gonna sit here and wonder for the rest of my life why he's started to avoid me!_ She stood up from the bed with determination and looked herself over in the mirror for a second. For some reason, she just had to make sure that she was still fully dressed, but then she went right out of her door.

Helga wasn't going to just sit around and wait for Arnold to either explain himself or just let this slide. She wanted answers, and she was pretty sure that she deserved them: even if she wouldn't like them, then she wanted them anyway!

* * *

Arnold was currently laying in his bed, feeling completely drained after this week. It was finally weekend, and he was looking forward to what he hoped would be a nightmare free night, though he doubted it: 'Out of sight – Out of mind', he didn't really believe guilt worked like that. Just because he wasn't going to see Helga for a while, then that didn't mean that he'd - -

A loud knock against something that sounded like glass, pulled Arnold out of his thoughts. He shook his head, as if coming out of a deep dream and sat up. He looked around, wondering where in the world that sound had come from.

Then he heard it again. He started frowning and swung his legs out of his bed, trying to look around again. Something knocked again, this time it was seething with impatience though. Then he finally looked up towards his skylight.

There, hovering over the door hatch in Arnold's skylight, was Helga G. Pataki, having a ferocious look on her face. "Helga?!" he shouted in surprise, and she could hear him say her name, though the sound had been muffled.

Helga knocked on the glass again, getting more and more impatient. On her way over to the boarding house, she had started getting angry. She didn't deserve this treatment: At least she hoped so, but more than anything, she was pretty damn sure she at least deserved an explanation to why he had started avoiding her!

It took Arnold a couple of seconds, before reality truly dawned on him: Helga, the girl of his dreams, his best female friend, was sitting on his rooftop, waiting for him to either let her in or go out himself, and about a week ago, she had done stuff to him that he had loved and now couldn't help thinking about yet again.

With a slight blush, Arnold went towards the skylight. He jumped onto his bed, not caring that he was still wearing his shoes, and went to open the window. Almost instantly, Helga grabbed the collar of his shirt and yanked him up towards her. He yelped a bit, but mostly his blush just got deeper at suddenly being this close to her.

"We need to talk, football head." Helga said with a seething voice, not noticing the obvious blush on Arnold's face whatsoever. "Huh? Uh, what do you wanna - - H-Helga!" he yelped, as she used her immense strength to pull him out of his room. After having placed him next to her on the concrete, she closed the window to make sure he wouldn't try and escape.

Helga turned to scowl at Arnold, making him flinch a bit in fright. _This is bad! She scared me when she's angry, but… right now even her being mad at me is making feel… really weird!_ He thought with a gulp and waited for her to speak.

Helga didn't speak though, at least not right away. _Come on, you coward. Say something!_ She thought inside her head, not sure if she was talking to herself or Arnold. "Why have you been avoiding me?" she asked bluntly. Arnold's eyes went a little wider and he felt his heartbeat quicken. "I… I'm not a… avoiding you."

"Liar!" Helga shouted and grabbed Arnold's collar again. He gasped at feeling of her hot breath tickling his cheeks and his lips. Her blue eyes were almost fiery with anger, and it was scary how much it turned him. _What am I, a masochist?!_ He thought unknowingly.

"Ever since Monday, you've been avoiding me. You barely even look at me, and I wanna know why! I think I deserve that! Tell me what your problem is! I can take it! What do you want from me?!" Helga asked in a frenzy, feeling tears prickle at the corner of her eyes.

It had been painful being avoided by the boy she had been in love with for so long, and it hurt to know it had happened right after their relationship had taken a direction in something that resembled friends with benefits rather than dating. It hurt to know that this was all it took for him to panic around her.

Helga had no idea that Arnold was barely hearing what she was saying to him. His own thoughts were confusing him enough as it was. How could he feel this guilty and yet _still_ want what he felt guilty about?

Seeing the hurt in Helga's eyes plus feeling the way he did, Arnold lifted his hands, planning to try and hold her. When he saw her look towards his arms in slight confusion, his eyes went wide, realizing what he had been about to, and then pulled his arms right back, even hiding them behind his back.

Helga frowned. "What are you hiding?" she asked. Arnold's eyes went wider again and he shook his head. "N-Nothing! I swear." He answered, but she obviously didn't believe him. "Show me!" she ordered, let go of his collar and leaned towards him to try and grab whatever he was hiding behind his back.

"H-Helga! I'm not hiding anything! Honestly!" Arnold exclaimed, doing his best to forget the fact that Helga's breasts were pressed up against his chest. _Please, don't let her feel my heart beating this fast!_ He begged inside his head, thinking that his former words had been a lie. He _was_ hiding something, but not an object as she apparently thought so.

"Just show me already!" Helga ordered again with a little bit of hurt in her eyes. She herself, wasn't even sure if she was referring to an object or his reason to avoid her. Nevertheless, he was hiding something from her, and she wasn't going to give up before she knew what it was.

"You… You're gonna freak if I show you." Arnold lamely tried to argue. Helga frowned in confusion. "I'm not gonna freak! Whatever it is, I can handle it. I'm Helga Pataki, right?" she pointed out and crossed her arms. "I-It's bad, I tell you…!" he tried to argue again, but could feel his resolve falter.

"Just tell me already." Helga begged with a more calm voice and started reaching for Arnold's hand to force him to show her. She could see him shut his eyes tight, almost as if trying to collect courage and then he swung his arms around her right beneath her waist, thereby locking her arms close to her body.

Helga was just blinking in confusion. Then she frowned. "What in the world? Is this supposed to tell me - - Ah, A-Arnold!" she yelped, when she felt the tip of his tongue tickle her neck. She started shaking in his arms, as his tongue caressed a very sensitive spot on her, making her feel ticklish and aroused all at the same time.

"W-Wait! I still don't get it. What were you hiding?" Helga asked, closing her eyes to enjoy this very unexpected turn of events. "I-If I have to be perfectly honest…" Arnold started with his mouth close to her neck, and then gulped. "I was hiding the feeling of… wanting to do this… again."

Helga felt her cheeks flush scarlet red. She snuck her hands up to Arnold's shoulders and pushed him back gently. He was looking down on the ground, obviously ashamed to the very core of his body. "E… E-Excuse me? I'm still… confused." She said, simply wanting him to say it again. Better yet; explaining it a bit further.

Arnold closed his eyes, trying to collect courage yet again and then turned his face away, even though he couldn't see Helga behind his eyelids. "I… I'm really embarrassed about it, but… e-ever since… ever since Saturday night, I, uh… Well, what happened that night was… I don't even know how to describe it…" he muttered, his cheeks a little flushed.

Helga's eyebrows furrowed a bit, and she tried to brace herself for whatever was to come. For now, Arnold's words hadn't exactly been encouraging. She could see him take a deep breath, before he continued speaking. "Ever since that night, I… w-whenever I see you, I start to think about it and I…"

That was when Helga started to look down, suddenly noticing something she had seen a couple of times at this point. Arnold also opened his eyes, almost as if he had felt her eyes burning through his skin. He pulled his legs into his body, hiding both his face, chest and lap behind them. "I-I start to feel like _this_…" he continued, knowing far too well, what she had just seen.

Helga was blushing for so many reasons. Embarrassment, shyness and mostly happiness. At least almost happiness, because she had to make sure. "So…" she started gently and gulped a bit. "You… You don't hate me? You don't find me disgusting after what we did?"

"A… Aren't you the one who should find _me_ disgusting?" Arnold wondered aloud, making Helga's heart skip a beat. She suddenly felt… relived, but mostly angry. He could suddenly hear a growl from the back of her throat and was just about to lift his head to look at her in confusion, when he felt her hand hit his head. Hard.

"Ow!" Arnold exclaimed and lifted his hands to hold the sore spot. "What was that for?!" he asked in slight anger, but when he say the expression on Helga's face, he went quiet. "Idiot!" she shouted with a tear on each side of her eyes trickling down her cheeks. "Jerk! Nitwit! Blockhead! Dunce! Pinhead! Fucking moron!"

Arnold frowned at Helga's continuous rant of insults, but also felt the guilt run through him. "I was so fucking scared!" she finally admitted, making his eyes go back. "What? Scared of what?" he asked in confusion.

"That's why I'm calling you a moron! How did you think I felt after a guy I had just done something like that with started avoiding me, huh?! I thought you thought I was disgusting or something! That you regretted it, and you only did it because you were drunk! Now you're telling me _this_?! That you're avoiding me, because you start feeling horny around me! Are you fucking kidding me?!"

Hearing that exact word coming out of Helga's mouth didn't exactly help on the feeling itself. "And what is that about me finding _you_ disgusting?! You thought I'd find you disgusting, because you'd feel horny just looking at me?! That's a compliment, bucko! I mean, come on!" she continued and let her forehead bang onto his knees, which were still pulled up against his chest.

"It's definitely way better than what I was thinking… _idiot_." Helga repeated yet again. Arnold could see her shoulders shaking and suddenly a different kind of guilt overtook the former one. He had never thought about how she'd misunderstand his actions, if she didn't feel the way he thought she had.

Arnold spread his legs a bit to grab Helga and hug her. She hugged him back, while she sobbed a bit near his neck. "I'm sorry, Helga… I didn't realize that you'd misunderstand, but… I was just so sure that you… that you… well, you did because Aaron slipped me a pill like that, right? It was out of responsibility as you said, so I was sure that…" he just sighed, he couldn't continue speaking any further.

Arnold felt Helga slap his back, before she pulled away. "You think I would have done that to anybody?" she asked. He felt his heartbeat quicken a bit, hoping for her next words to be out of love. "You really think that's the kind of girl I am?"

"N-No… but, uh… I don't know."

"Arnold… you're… I've known you since preschool. You're the one guy in the whole world who gets me, and I… I trust you more than anyone else. Perhaps besides Phoebe, but still… I think I understand what you mean… You feel bad because… you think that you somehow stole my first experience, right?"

Arnold felt his entire body heat up at that reminder. He nodded in agreement, which made Helga sigh a bit. "Arnold, you haven't stolen anything. C-Come on, I mean… Sure, we didn't really do that because we… because we were in the heat of the moment or anything. We did it because Aaron had slipped you that pill, but… if there's any guy in the whole wide world I could replace with you in that experience, then I wouldn't."

Arnold lifted his head to look at Helga, feeling that little bit of hope waver a bit. "You're my best guy friend, Arnold, and I trust you with all of my heart and… b-body. I don't trust anyone like I trust you, so… don't think you took anything from me. Even if we aren't lovers… that doesn't mean I'd hate doing something like that with you." she continued, feeling that her words had been perfect.

Arnold, on the other hand, wasn't sure what to feel. He didn't like the part with 'best guy friend', but the rest… the rest made him feel warm all over his body. He knew that she trusted him, even if she had never admitted it before, but to be told that she trusted him to that extend… to even not minding, perhaps even _wanting_, to experience what lovers would usually experience together with him… that _could_ mean there was a chance that she'd fall in love with him eventually… right?

Arnold started smiling, feeling that little bit of hope spark in the pit of his stomach. "Thank you, Helga… Th-That makes me feel much better. For what it's worth… y-you're my best girl friend too… uh, gal friend. Fr-Friend who's a girl. You know what I mean…" he said a little nervously, but when Helga smiled at him, he couldn't help but chuckle.

The air around them had been lifted. They still weren't quite sure what their relationship was anymore. If they were friends, friends with benefits or something close to lovers – All they knew is that they wanted more. So much more and they'd keep wanting more until they'd either burst with happiness or die.

"Can I… admit something that you may think is really typically me?" Arnold asked, feeling slightly embarrassed about what he was planning to say, but all things considered; it _was_ pretty innocent compared to what they had just admitted to each other.

"Sure. What is it?" Helga asked, wondering what could be on Arnold's mind. She could see the obvious blush on his face, and she felt herself blush at all of the possibilities to what he'd say. "Now… Now that the guilt from feeling like I had stolen something from you is gone… then I kinda feel guilty about something else." He admitted.

"And that is what?"

"… I didn't… you know, uh… We were in a hurry, so I guess it's understandable, but I… I didn't get to… return the favor… so to speak."

Helga felt her entire body jerk at feeling her heart almost jump out of her chest. She was _sure_ that she was blushing at places she had never blushed before and she whipped her head around, so she couldn't see Arnold. She started laughing in embarrassment and nervousness. "N-No, I guess you didn't, but, uh, seriously, I'm not holding a grudge or anything… but, yeah, you're right; that is _so very typical_ of you. T-To worry about something stupid like that!"

Arnold had felt embarrassed a moment ago, and even though he still did, then he mostly had to try very hard not to laugh at Helga's embarrassment. She had seemed really comfortable with the whole thing Saturday night, but now she seemed like a shy flower or something. "Sorry… I made you uncomfortable mentioning that."

"N-No, not uncomfortable… more like… I don't know." Helga admitted and turned to glance at Arnold, seeing the faint smile on his lips, but mostly the seriousness in his eyes. "Are you…" she started, but gulped to give herself a small pause. "Are you suggesting… what I think you're suggesting?"

A few seconds of awkward silence passed, before Arnold gave one small, gentle, but determined nod with his head, confirming Helga's question. Her eyes widened a bit and her body tensed. _Oh, my fucking God! This is a dream come true! And yet, I'm nervous as hell! Oh, dear…_

"Would that be… ok?" Arnold finally asked, feeling like Helga's answer would somehow determine everything. He could see her blink a couple of times, the adorable blush on her cheeks deepen, as she nodded gently. "Yeah, that'd… _definitely_ be ok." She answered in embarrassment, but also anticipation.

Arnold couldn't help but give a rather toothy smile at Helga's answer, which made her giggle. In a way, the giggle let out a lot of tension. "Can I try something?" he asked, pulling her out of her thoughts. "Oh, great. Is it my turn now to get teased or something?" she asked, referring to when she had asked him to do the same thing some days ago.

Arnold chuckled and climbed on all fours. "Please?" he asked with an innocent smile. Helga rolled her eyes, but then closed them as asked. She could hear him walk on all fours next to her and she could feel his breath behind her.

"Could you lift your arms?" Arnold then asked gently. Helga's eyebrows furrowed a bit in confusion at that request, but she did as told and lifted them a bit. Then she felt a pair of strong arms wrap themselves around her torso and a pair of legs on each side of her own ones.

Helga's eyes went wide as she felt her heart beat hard at that simple action from Arnold. "I just wanted to try and hug you this way… Is that ok?" he asked gently next to her ear, sending a serious chill down her spine. She rolled her eyes as she laid her arms over his. "Worrywart. After what I just gave you permission to do… do you honestly think I'd mind a hug?"

Arnold chuckled at that. He knew he was a worrywart, but he couldn't help it; it _was_ after all Helga he was worrying about. _His_ Helga… well, hopefully at some point his. For now, if she wanted this as much as him… then he'd settle with this kind of relationship for now.

Arnold turned his lips towards Helga's neck and kissed it gently. He could feel her flinch a little at the touch, but she also moaned in pleasure. He sent a trail of kisses from her jawline down to her collarbone, earning an adorable, ticklish giggle from her.

Helga could feel Arnold's thumb starting to caress her stomach a bit, probably either trying to tease her or start out slowly. She didn't want him to be slow. She wanted to feel his touch so badly, and despite feeling shy about her words, then she voiced her thoughts anyhow. "A-Arnold… if you're going slow because of anything else besides _you_ being nervous… th-then don't… please? I'm already - - Ah!"

Helga gasped at the feeling of Arnold's hand on her breast. She could feel his teeth against her neck, probably smiling at her wince. "You're probably right… we're still on the roof after all, and… this is for _you_. If you want me to do something, I'll do it." He whispered and then let his tongue lick her neck, having already figured out how much she loved that.

Helga gasped at the feeling, realizing Arnold had figured out how sensitive she was there, since he was giving that place more attention. Her hands, which were still placed on his arms, started to shake a little at the intense feeling she was feeling at the moment. He wasn't even doing that much; fondling her breast, licking her neck, was she really that sensitive? Or was it simply because she had dreamed of this moment for so long?

Helga noticed that her arms had fallen down a bit, and she looked towards them to see that Arnold had lowered his arms, bringing hers with him to pull her top up. She lifted her arms a bit, ready to lift them completely above her head, but he simply pulled it up and let it stay tugged over her breasts, and started fondling both of her breasts again.

_Odd… He did the same thing with my bra Saturday night. Why isn't he taking it off completely? Is it some odd fetish I don't know about…? Or, wait… is he being shy? Considerate?_ Helga didn't have time to come to a conclusion, because suddenly she felt his left hand sneak up under her bra and pull at her nipple.

Helga yelped in surprise and started moaning at the feeling. _Oh, God, who cares!_ She decided to just let herself get completely caught in her own pleasure and only wished for him to touch her _there_. She already felt like she was on fire and she was wearing a pair of loose pants, not even with a zipper or buttons or anything – it was easy to take off!

"Arnold…" Helga whimpered with a small pout, resembling the way he had looked at her with those puppy dog eyes that night. Arnold recognized the look, because it also resembled the way she had looked at him, when she begged him to dance with her. He smiled at her, catching on to what she was pleading to and let his tongue lick her behind her ear.

Helga gasped in lust and was starting to question, if he really _was_ just teasing her or if he was being dense? As usual. But then her unsaid question was answered, as she felt his free hand lay itself upon her thigh. He massaged the area for a few seconds, obviously to frustrate her, but then he slowly slid it over her hipbone, to her center and then laid it gently between her thighs.

Helga almost pulled her legs together at the slight shock, but refrained from doing so, since it was an action to misunderstand easily. "Arnold!" she said in a whimper, annoyed that he was still at the stage of teasing her. She could feel him chuckle in her ear. "All right, all right."

Then Helga finally felt the feeling of having a strange hand between her thighs. Arnold had slowly slid his hand down her pants, even finding the hem of her panties easily and slid beneath that garment too. She whipped her head back with a gasp and involuntarily bucked against his hand.

Arnold let himself feel the girl beneath him, this also being his first time touching like that. In a way, the feeling was just as he had imagined, and yet not at all. Wet, warm, soft… He couldn't help himself; he suddenly felt nervous. He had heard far too many stories about girls complaining about boys and their 'technique' when it came to sex. He desperately roamed through his mind, trying to remember what a girl looked like in that area, and what felt good and what didn't.

Arnold couldn't remember much… except _one_ place. He closed his eyes, trying to make his tactile sense stronger by doing so. _It should be… like somewhere around… here?_ He wondered, when he finally felt something feeling like a small bud.

A loud gasp from Helga confirmed Arnold's suspicions. He was surprised though at the loudness of her voice and almost removed his hand, thinking he'd hurt her, but then her hand went to his wrist, keeping his hand in place. She hadn't realized he'd been about to move his hand at all, her action had been involuntarily.

"How… How did you find… _that_ so easily?" Helga wondered aloud, not daring to look Arnold in the face, even if it was right next to hers. He blushed. "Uh… I just… tried to?" he suggested, which made her giggle a bit, though she also panted, since his finger was still technically laying against… _that_. "Well, you… you found it. Congratulations. Not most guys can do that the first time… I've heard."

"Let me guess: Phoebe again?"

"You really should give Gerald some tips."

Helga and Arnold couldn't help but chuckle at this random conversation at this unexpected moment, but in a way it made sense for them, they could always laugh together, even at inappropriate moments, and it wasn't something everyone could do.

Helga actually dared to look at Arnold this time around, giving him a smile. He smiled back at her and gently kissed her jawline. She sighed, feeling she was in heaven from such a gentle touch. She gasped right after though, when Arnold's fingers started moving underneath her panties.

Helga knew she wouldn't last very long. All things considered, she had – in a way – waited since Saturday, and even just their position excited her. She was a little surprised that Arnold, never once, tried to stick a finger inside of her. Then again, he had found that very sensitive spot so quickly, so perhaps he also knew that fingering didn't do all that much? At least not compared to what he was doing right then.

After about a minute, Helga lifted her hand to cover her mouth. "What are you doing?" Arnold asked, though he had a pretty clear idea to what it was. She narrowed her eyes at him, not wanting to let go off her mouth for even a minute. "You know, Helga," he said gently and intertwined the fingers of his free hand into hers, forcing her hand away from her face. "I can't read your mind."

"Arnold! W-We're outside, you idiot!"

"We're on a _rooftop_, Helga… Who's gonna hear us, the pigeons?"

Helga groaned a bit, but then Arnold's fingers picked up their pace. "Ah! O-Oh… f-fine. I give up." She declared and let herself moan as much as her body wished for her to do. "Now, that's a first." He observed with a slight laugh and then gently blew some air on her neck, making her squirm in his arms.

Arnold didn't know where his bravery was coming from. He wasn't even all that nervous or shy about what they were doing. Perhaps it was just because he had matured more than he had realized. His theory was though, that he simply liked this newfound power he had over her. It made him feel like he was walking on a pink cloud to know, that he could make Helga feel this good, simply by touching her. He was almost scared that his head would get bigger from the ego boost it gave him.

Arnold let go off Helga's hand, continuing his caress on her lower region, and then put his now free hand on one of her breasts again. She flinched a little beneath his hand, making her breast push itself more into his hand. He wanted to kiss her chest so badly, but their current position made it impossible. He hoped… No, he _prayed_ he'd get another chance like this.

Helga's left arm twisted around next to Arnold's and her left cheeks, and her fingers started fisting his hair. He almost moaned at the different sensation, feeling her pull on his blonde tuffs made his eyes roll back in his head. He could feel her hips buck against his own and his hand, making him feel more and more aroused at the second. He didn't care though. More than anything, then he wanted to see _her_, hear _her_, feel _her_…

"A… A-Arnold…" Helga whimpered in the most wonderfully moaning voice. "Y-Yeah?" Arnold asked, having only slight to clue to what she was about to say. "I'm… I'm, uh… Oh, God!" she suddenly let out a huge gasp, almost sounding like a scream, and his eyes went wide as he felt her hips' erratic rhythm.

Helga was shaking as her hand, which had been holding Arnold's head tightly as she came, went to his hand to stop his movements. She always felt really sensitive after hitting climax and if he continued to touch her like that, it would've started to hurt because it felt so sore already.

"W… Whoa…" Arnold declared a little shyly. Helga dared to glance at him over her shoulder, her chest pumping up and down as she tried to get her breath steady. Her eyes were half-lidded, her mouth a little open as she looked at him. "W… W-What?" she asked.

"Uh… J-Just…" Arnold started, feeling a blush grow on his cheeks. Ever since he and Helga had pretended to 'do it' to tease his dad and grandpa, then he had wondered and tried to imagine what it would be like to _truly_ hear her hit climax. His guesses hadn't even been close! Nor had his imagination ever made him feel like… _this._

Arnold just decided to smile at Helga, who looked almost as if she would faint from relaxation at the spot. He pulled his hand out of her pants, snuck his other arm around her waist and gently let himself fall down, pulling her with him.

Helga kept laying on top of Arnold, her back against his chest, as both teens panted. It took them several seconds, before Arnold could even mouth words. "So… was it… ok?" he asked gently, almost wanting to chuckle at his own question, since he heard her snicker at him. "No, Arnold, it was awful; that's why I screamed like that."

Arnold, knowing Helga's humor far too well at this point, knew she was seething with sarcasm. They laughed together, as she rolled around, positioning herself next to him. She sat up and turned to look at him, while he sat up too.

They kept looking at each other for a couple of seconds, both just bashing in the afterglow. Then they started laughing, not even knowing why. Everything was just so messed up. So many things had happened the last three weeks, but this just took the cake.

"I guess… this makes us even?" Helga wondered aloud with a smile. Arnold smiled back at her, not sure if he should take what she said as something bad. "I… suppose." He answered. She quirked an eyebrow at him. "_Suppose_? Well, well, well, I'm looking forward to hear what you mean by that… at Monday. Right now, I should get home. Who knows if my parents suddenly realize I'm gone for once?" she wondered with seething sarcasm in her voice, though she had a truly happy smile on her face.

Helga stood up as Arnold did the same. They kept looking at each other, as they walked towards the ladder. "Well, football head, this has been fun." She said with a bit of irony in her voice, mostly because the sentence just didn't fit, even if it _had_ been fun.

Arnold chuckled at Helga's words, positioning himself to sit on the edge of the roof next to the ladder. "Yeah, it… was. I'm glad you're not the kind of girl to just sit around and ignore something like - - "

"Like a guy ignoring _her_?" Helga ended Arnold's sentence, crossing her arms with a sideways smirk. He started to scratch his neck in embarrassment. "Uh, yeah… sorry about that again." he answered with a nervous chuckle. "Naw, don't sweat it. We're friends again now, right?" she asked while putting her foot on the ladder. He smiled, even if he didn't quite consider them friends at this point. At least not completely.

"Yeah. See you at Monday, Helga." Arnold answered, while she positioned herself completely on the ladder leading all the way down to the ground. She had an idea as she stood there, and he could actually see it on her face. "See ya, football head." She greeted, before she grabbed the ladder with her hands and let go off it with her feet.

"Helga!" Arnold shouted in panic, when her entire body fell down with the speed of light. He leaned over the railing, watching her as she slid down the ladder, unharmed. When she reached the ground, she stepped off the ladder and looked up at him with a big grin on her face.

"You trying to give me a heart attack?!" Arnold asked with big eyes, but Helga simply started to laugh maniacally. "Maybe!" she answered, started to skip down the street as she waved at him. He sighed as he put his arms down to the railing and laid his chin upon them. As he watched her walk through the street, he had to wonder; was this a step in the right… or in the wrong direction?

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**Author's 2nd note: Looooooong chapter this time! xD Sexual stuff occurring in two chapters in a row? Sorry and kudos to you! (Depending on whether you're mostly into the drama or the fluff/sex xD)**

**Next chapter will be the last week of Aaron's visit to Hillwood, which means… yes! We're getting close to the ending xD Stay tuned for more drama, confusion, love and hate!**


	33. Start considering Helga as the saint

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**Insecurities led to yet another misunderstanding between Arnold and Helga. All things considered, then their previous sexual encounter hadn't been out of love, so perhaps their denseness was bound to make them misunderstand each other?**_

_**Helga finally did have enough though, when Arnold had been avoiding her for the last couple of days. She crept onto his rooftop and forced him to confess to her, that he started feeling aroused every time he was around her, because of what happened the last Saturday.**_

_**After having thrown away the misunderstandings, both Arnold and Helga realized that even though they weren't quite lovers at this point… then they were so much more than friends. And perhaps that could lead to so much more later.**_

**Author's 1st note: Well! :'( I'm a little sad to say that… I don't know how many chapters there will be after this since… I just realized something… WE'RE OVER HALFWAY TOWARDS THE ENDING! :D I'm happy and… sad? xD We're at the last week of Aaron's visit in Hillwood, which means that when he goes home Saturday the 4th of April. this story's over! So we have, what, 6 days to get our favorite blonde teens together? O_O Boy, gotta hurry up then xD (We'll start off at what happened after what occurred in the last chapter first though ;))**

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Chapter 33: "You'll start considering _Helga_ as the saint"

With a _very_ content sigh, Arnold walked towards his skylight to get into his room again. He opened the hatch and climbed inside, feeling like just jumping down onto his bed, and stay there to daydream for the rest of the day. Until a voice broke him out of his already daydreaming thoughts. "Well, well, well."

Arnold glanced over his shoulder to look towards the voice. "Aaron?!" he shouted in a bit of shock, involuntarily letting go off the build-in ladder in his wall and falling to the bed. _When I wanted to just jump off, I didn't mean like this…_ He thought in annoyance and sighed. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Only for about 10 minutes. I was wondering where you were, and then the weirdest thing happened; I heard a female gasp, almost like a scream, but it didn't sound painful. Care to explain?" Aaron inquired with a very amused smile on his lips.

Arnold's face turned red as the memories roamed through his head yet again. "Uh… what makes you think _I_ can explain? I'm just as shocked as you. I was climbing down here to try and go outside to check what happened."

"Uh-huh. Except two things. One, at _least_ ten minutes passed before you went down here after the scream, and, two, wouldn't it have made more sense to just use the fire escape if you were gonna go outside anyways?" Aaron asked, still with the amused smirk on his face.

Arnold groaned and sat up to look at Aaron with an annoyed look. "Look, Aaron, do you want something?" he asked, absolutely not in the mood to deal with him right now. "Nothing really, just congratulate you, I suppose." He answered, the smile fading a bit from his face.

Arnold cocked an eyebrow at that. "Congratulate me? For what?"

"For finally taking the plunge with Helga?"

"Taking the… We didn't go all the way, pervert! We were on a roof!"

"I'm not talking about that, _you_ pervert! You _did_ tell her about your feelings…" Aaron started, but when he saw the look on Arnold's face he frowned. "… _didn't_ you?"

Arnold lifted his hand to scratch his neck in embarrassment. "Uh… n-not exactly…" he answered honestly. He turned to look at Aaron, who seemed like he was staring at someone who was mental. He lifted his hand as if to speak in frustration, but then took a deep breath to calm himself. "Why, if I may ask?"

"What do you care?"

"I care the same way I care about people in soap operas. Seriously! You guys are _so_ slow! I don't… You know what? Forget it. Talking to you about it will obviously not change anything." Aaron decided and then went out of the room.

Arnold's eyes went wide at that statement. _What in the world…? Why does he care? Shouldn't he be happy that I haven't told Helga about my feelings yet? Since he…_ and that was when Arnold remembered Gerald's words from the party at Helga's: _"I'm telling you: just because Aaron has real feelings for Helga, that doesn't mean you have to hold back."_

With everything else, that happened that night and this following week, Arnold had completely forgotten about that. _Real feelings…_ he repeated in his head and let himself fall down onto the bed again. He was staring up at the sky through his skylight, as he pondered.

_So… Aaron has real feelings for Helga too, but… then why would he blackmail her? Then again, he could have fallen in love with her after that… but, why did he slip me that kind of pill, what would he gain from that? Nothing. Does he really have feelings for her…? Gerald seems to think so, but… does Helga know that? They do seem to get along a lot more since… since… when, actually? Since the aphrodisiac thing. What happened after I left? _Arnold couldn't help but frown in frustration. He lifted his hands to cover his face in despair and then turned around on the bed, face down into the pillow.

_Everything is such a mess… This was so much easier when I thought that Aaron was just looking for a one night stand with Helga. Then I could be mad at him for that, but I can't be mad at him for falling for the same girl as me… but he's going back to New York soon, so it's not as if their relationship could… but what does that matter? In the end, it's what Helga feels which is the most important. I'd like to think it's me she cares for, but… _"Ugh!" Arnold finally shouted and sat up on the bed.

_I don't know anymore! What if this whole… 'friends who do stuff' is actually a bad thing? What if she thinks I'll start only wanting to do that with her? I-If she doesn't realize I want her on another level as well?_ Arnold started shaking his head though, refusing to indulge in the sudden urge to confess to her.

_But I promised myself to shut up until this whole blackmail thing is over. She must be stressed enough as it as. Having to deal with my feelings, in case she doesn't feel the same, might just make everything worse. I am so sorry, Aaron, for thinking like this, but go home already!_

* * *

The following Monday, both Phoebe and Gerald seemed to wonder why their own best friends were behaving… oddly. It had started out with both Phoebe and Gerald waiting for the two blondes to arrive to school. Arnold had been the first one to arrive, wearing a somewhat worried look on his face.

"Hey, man, what's up? Looking forward to the game on… Thursday? What's with you?" Gerald asked, wondering why Arnold didn't seem excited. Their class was after all going to play a baseball game against the seniors this next Thursday, and Arnold always seemed to look forward to a game. This particular morning though, he had seemed to have forgotten all about it.

"Huh?" Arnold muttered and looked up from the ground, having not noticed that anyone was even speaking to him. "Oh, hi, Gerald. Good morning, Phoebe." He greeted when he noticed them, still wearing a worried look on his face. "Good morning, Arnold." Phoebe greeted back with a small frown, worried about what could be troubling him, since she knew what had happened the last Friday.

"What's wrong, man? You don't look so hot." Gerald observed, also knowing what had happened the last Friday, scared that something else had happened since, though Arnold hadn't told him anything of the sort. "Uh… no, I, uh… didn't get much sleep last night." Arnold answered, yawning a bit.

Gerald cocked an eyebrow at that statement and went to whisper into his ear. "I'm guessing you didn't lose sleep because of something good?" he asked. It took Arnold a couple of seconds before he understood, started to blush and then punched Gerald's arm. "Keep your boyfriend in check, would you, Phoebs?" he asked with a teasing smile. Phoebe and Gerald laughed at that, both happy that Arnold at least wasn't down in the dumps or anything.

"Good morning!" A female voice yelled. The group looked towards the familiar sound and noticed Helga walking down the street. She was taking her arm down from the air, having been waving just before. "Good morning, Helga!" Phoebe greeted happily and waved herself.

Gerald glanced at Arnold, who had a faint blush on his cheeks and a small smile on his lips. Gerald shook his head in amusement. _Whatever troubled him before is suddenly forgotten. Gee, I wonder why?_ He thought with sarcasm and snickered to himself.

"G-Good morning, Helga." Arnold greeted with a slight stutter. Helga glanced at him, gave a somewhat tense smile and nodded. "Good morning, Arnold." She answered, also having a slight blush on her cheeks.

Gerald and Phoebe looked at each other, both wearing big smiles. They were both guessing that it was only a matter of time before Helga and Arnold would finally give in at this point. Though the fact that something was troubling Arnold was still on the back of their heads.

That was when the bell rang, pulling all of the teens out of their own thoughts. "Well, we better get inside now!" Helga declared with a slight edge to her voice, making it obvious that she was a little nervous all of a sudden. "Come on, Phoebs."

Helga snuck her arm around Phoebe's who simply complied, as she always did. "S-See ya in math, you guys." Helga said, while glancing over her shoulder. "See you." Phoebe quickly chimed in, which only Gerald noticed. Arnold gave Helga a tense smile as she had given him earlier, also having trouble with not smiling to above both of his ears.

Helga and Arnold kept gazing at each other for a bit, before Phoebe started pulling at her a bit, mostly hoping that no matter how love dazed her two friends were, then they wouldn't have to be late for class. Helga followed Phoebe lazily the first two steps, but then seemed to shake her head to get out of her daze and then turned around to run with her.

As soon as the girls were out of hearing range, Arnold took a deep breath and simply sighed in what seemed like pure happiness. "Man, yuck, I don't wanna know what you're gonna be like, when you two finally admit you love each other. You're gonna be a pain to be around!" Gerald announced and punched his upper arm.

Gerald had expected Arnold to roll his eyes and either punch back or just continue his lovesick daze, but instead his face fell heavily and he started wearing that worried look again. "… Ok, that's it." Gerald said with worry. "What's the matter with you? You look troubled."

Arnold hesitated and then shook his head. "I don't know, Gerald…"

"Oh, come - - "

"No, seriously." Arnold interrupted and looked up at Gerald. "I… don't know what's the matter with me. After Helga came over last Friday, then… I've been thinking a lot, and yet I've gotten nowhere. It's like… I can feel something heavy tuck at my heart like if I'm in pain, but I don't know why. I'm anxious, but about what?"

"Oh, please. You're concerned because you're closer than ever to get together with Helga, and you're scared you're gonna fuck up like with every other girl you had a crush on in the past."

"… Thanks for the pep talk… You really think that's it?"

"Arnold," Gerald said with a friendly tone and snuck his arm over Arnold's shoulders. "I've known you since preschool. I've seen you on the lowest and on your highest. Trust me: You're worried that you're gonna mess it up or something, and knowing that your cousin has feelings for her too makes you more nervous. Not because you think she might feel the same, but because you have the conscience of a saint. You can't stand to see someone get hurt."

Arnold blinked a couple of times, but then smiled. "Again: what's with the sudden words of wisdom?" he asked teasingly, earning another punch on the arm from Gerald. "And again: Phoebe's been rubbing off on me… like Helga seems to be doing with you; you're getting rude!"

Arnold couldn't help but laugh at that, since he wouldn't mind Helga rubbing off on him, since she was _Helga_ after all. Perhaps, she could give him the backbone to actually confess to her. Wouldn't that be ironic? "Sorry, sorry. It's just… Thanks. Now, I at least know what's wrong with me."

"There's nothing wrong with you, man, you're just a worrywart." Gerald answered with a smile, not knowing who was the last person to call Arnold that. He started blushing heavily, starting to remember two certain events.

Gerald quirked an eyebrow at the sudden lovesick look on Arnold's face: Especially since it, to Gerald, had come out of nowhere. Then a thought occurred to him though and he started snickering. "Did a certain someone call you a worrywart recently… bucko?"

Arnold frowned at Gerald's last word. "You can't pull off bucko." He stated matter-of-factly. Gerald gave a dramatic, mockingly horrified face, making Arnold laugh loudly. "How dare you! I can pull of bucko as much as the next one!"

"Naw, only Helga can pull it off." Arnold answered, the lovesick look starting to appear on his face again. "Ew!" Gerald shouted with a sarcastic smile and grabbed Arnold by the shoulders with his arm. The two boys laughed loudly while they went on their way to their first lesson.

* * *

It wasn't only Gerald and Phoebe who noticed the different atmosphere between Helga and Arnold. As soon as the first recess started and Arnold, Phoebe, Gerald and Helga met up again, it was starting to get less obvious _which_ boy and girl in this group was the couple. While Gerald and Phoebe of course were in love, their love was mellow because of their personalities, but also because they had been a couple for quite some time.

In Arnold and Helga's case, they had also been in love for quite some time, but had never really indulged in their feelings; until now, it seemed. They seemed rather… playful to their peers and they were all whispering here and there about the odd behavior.

Not to Arnold and Helga's notice though, they were far too indulged in each other to notice anything else. Especially when lunch period enrolled. As usual, Helga and Arnold were sitting next to each other with Gerald and Phoebe in front of them.

Gerald and Phoebe couldn't help but smile at each other, while Arnold and Helga chatted about nothing in particular it seemed. Or rather, they had been talking so much by now, that Gerald and Phoebe had lost track in the conversation. They just enjoyed looking at the both of them so happily.

"I'm telling you; there's something up with those two!" Rhonda whispered in a slight frenzy. She was currently sitting with Nadine and Lila, all of them talking about Arnold and Helga's sudden odd behavior.

"Yes, definitely. A lot of really weird things have been happening for the last couple of weeks! At your party, Helga slapping Arnold, her wearing a skirt, them popping out of a locker, and now this!" Nadine agreed and gestured towards Helga who just playfully threw a crouton at a laughing Arnold.

"It's really weird, right?" a male voice suddenly asked. The girls turned to look up at the owner of the voice, noticing that Harold, Stinky and Sid had suddenly appeared. "Yes, it is!" Sid agreed with Harold and sat down, Stinky and Harold doing the same thing.

"I personally think it's ever so adorable, and ever so long awaited." Lila chimed in with a smile. Her peers stared at her in disbelief. "What do you mean 'long awaited'? Do you know something we don't?" Rhonda asked, starting to furrow her eyebrows at the thought of one of her friends keeping _anything_ from _her_.

"Well…" Lila started with a pensive look. _Should I really tell them this? Helga told me that in confidence back then, even told me she'd… what was her words again? Oh, right, strangle me with her bare hands… but… all things considered… they do seem on the right track. What could be the harm?_ "Helga _did_ confide in me back when we were in fourth grade that she liked Arnold a little."

The group's mouths went agape. "What?!" they all shouted. "But she always acted so mean towards him!" Nadine pointed out. "Oh, you guys didn't read through the lines, did you?" Lila asked with a gentle smile. "Don't boys in that age also tease the girl they like? Haven't Helga always been a bit… on the more boyish side? It makes sense for her to be ever so cruel to the guy she likes, right?"

They all turned to look at no one in particular, almost as if silently questioning him or her if they agreed. "Well… when you say it like that… then it actually makes sense." Rhonda observed with big eyes and started to lean her chin on the palm of her hand. "Helga liking Arnold… and Arnold obviously likes her too. You think he has liked her ever since back then too? I mean, he _did_ always talk nicely about her, even if she was mean to him."

"She hasn't only been mean to him." Sheena suddenly chimed in, arriving together with Eugene and Curly. "I think Arnold likes her too." Eugene chimed in with a nod. Lila smiled at her friends' calm way of handling this. _Phew… for a second, I was scared they were going to make a big deal out of it. I just hope Arnold and Helga will confess ever so soon._ She thought before glancing at them over her shoulder, noticing Helga pushing at Arnold's shoulder, laughing at whatever he had just said. _If they haven't already that is…_

"Hey, guys. What's up?" Aaron asked when he arrived at their table. "Hi, Aaron! We're just talking about you-know-who." Nadine answered and wiggled her eyebrows. He sat down with a confused look on his face. "Who, Voldemort?"

"No!" Rhonda answered with a bit of annoyance and grabbed his face. She turned it around, so that he was looking in Arnold and Helga's direction. His eyes went a little big. "Whoa! Didn't they look really awkward just last week?" he wondered aloud and pulled his face out of Rhonda's grasp.

"Yes, they did, but now look at them!" Rhonda answered with a big smile, feeling happy that she had finally solved the puzzle. Lila kept observing Aaron as she could see something almost invisible in his face. "Well, good for them. It was getting annoying to see them so dull." He said with something resembling indifference and turned to look at his food. Lila's eyes narrowed at that statement.

"I still can't believe it. Arnold and Helga. It just seems so… weird. They've always been like a big scary cat and a small, timid mouse. What kind of relationship would they have, if they actually started dating?" Stinky wondered aloud, making Rhonda look pensive too. "I'm guessing that… I have no clue. I think maybe they would have a really rocky relationship, you know?"

Aaron's eyebrows lifted a bit at that, Lila noticed. "Rocky? What do you mean by that?" he asked. Rhonda gave a thoughtful sound. "Like… they fight a lot, right? They don't have much in common, so they're bound to keep fighting. I think Arnold might bore Helga actually, since he's a goody-two-shoes and she's, well, not at all. I can imagine her doing something bad, him preaching about it and then they fight."

Aaron cocked his head to the side, wondering if Rhonda might be right about that. "But… and maybe I'm just saying this, because I don't know how Helga was when you guys were children… Arnold mentioned she's become less _bad_." He pointed out.

"Well, yeah, she actually _has_… Ever since we came back from San Lorenzo to retrieve Arnold's parents, she seemed to become at least less violent. Her mouth can still be really filthy though." Sid answered with a small frown. "But she's done a lot of good stuff for you guys too, right?" Aaron asked, making Lila frown a little more at him.

The group turned to glance at each other again, some of them slowly nodding. To Aaron's surprise, they started listing off some things they remembered Helga doing for them through the years. Lila noticed how he started smiling at that, and then her eyes went wide. "Oh, dear…" she muttered worriedly.

"Did you say something, Miss Lila?" Stinky asked politely. "Oh. No. I… Could I speak with you for a second, Aaron?" Lila asked, seeming desperate to do so. Aaron frowned at the sudden enthusiasm to be alone with him. Out of the three girls who had been 'hitting on him' since he arrived, Lila had been the one to show least interest.

"Uh… sure, I guess." Aaron answered and started to stand up. Lila did the same thing and together, they walked through the cafeteria towards the hallway. "All right. What do you wanna talk about?" Aaron asked, as soon as they were outside.

Rather than answering immediately, Lila turned around to face him, an out of character pensively look on her face. Aaron frowned in confusion. It was odd seeing Lila make such a face, and – in a way – it scared him a little.

"_What_?" Aaron asked with a harsh tone, not at all liking the accusing look on Lila's face. "… I'm not gonna let you." she answered with determination. His eyes went wide and his eyebrows furrowed. "Excuse me?"

"I'm not gonna let you get between them." Lila answered, still wearing determination on her face. Aaron's eyes went wide. He was blinking rapidly, not at all knowing what she was talking about or how he should react to the accusation. "Uh… and again… excuse me?"

Lila shifted a little on her feet, not used to confronting other people like this. "I've been having a bit of a funny feeling lately, but I decided to ignore it. Though, now it's back and I can't _not_ say anything." She said, as if that would explain anything to Aaron. His frown just got deeper though. "Uh…" he shook his head a little, still very confused. "I still don't know what you're talking about."

Lila took a deep breath, and Aaron felt as if an anvil had just landed on his head when she spoke. "You like Helga." She said very matter-of-factly. He blinked at her a couple of times, before his face went dark. "Oh, so that's what you were hinting at." He observed, feeling a bit of anger shining through her. "How in the world did you figure that out?"

"I'm observant. I also noticed that Helga had a crush on Arnold when we were kids… even before she admitted it to me. Granted, because I lured her into doing so – not one of my proudest moments, but I got the answer I wanted nevertheless." Lila explained and crossed her arms.

Aaron crossed his arms too, wearing an impressed smile on his face. "Yeah, I heard about that… You're sneakier than you'd like to admit, aren't you?" he asked with a cocked eyebrow. Lila didn't seem to like his question, as her lips went into two thin lines. "Like Helga, I… I have things about me, I'd prefer to keep hidden. She and I don't have the best relationship, but we know enough about each other to know that we both have less than ideal families."

"… Yeah?" Aaron said, hoping for Lila to continue to speak. With a small sigh, she did so. "I live with my father in a rundown neighborhood. All the girls in my class know that, but they have never once asked my where my mother is. If they did, I'd have to tell them that… she killed herself just before we moved to Hillwood."

Aaron's eyes went wide. "Oh… I'm sorry." He said, unsure of how to react. Lila simply smiled at him though. "Thank you, but it's alright. I didn't understand it back then, but today I know that… perhaps it was better for her, even if it did leave me and my dad in pain. She was really unhappy. I won't go into details, but she did resemble Helga's mom a little bit, except for the drinking."

Aaron looked pensive at that. _How much does Lila really know about Helga's mom? They all know she's a bit of a drunk, but Lila seems to know more. Then again, she's observant. Perhaps she could just recognize something in Miriam no one else did, if her mom really did resemble Helga's._

"Because of that somewhat similar background, I've always felt… an ever so small connection with Helga." Lila then admitted with a sad smile. "Though we don't really get along at all. We handle our family problems differently: She gets defensive, perhaps even rude, while I… put on the best smile that I can. I try to stay ever so positive and that has helped me, but I don't think it'd work with Helga, which is ever so unfortunate."

Aaron felt something odd tuck in his heart at Lila's statement. "Have you ever told Helga this? Maybe she'd listen to you, you know? Knowing someone who has a similar background with her might get her to talk. I can… promise you that, actually."

Lila frowned at him. "What do you mean?" she asked. Aaron sighed a bit. "Uh… my parents aren't really ideal either. My mom drinks too and such, so I have something in common with Helga. That's how I know about her home life. I guess she confided in me, because I could understand it. Maybe she'd do the same with you?"

Lila blinked in surprise. "She… actually spoke to you about that? I thought Arnold would be the only one to ever truly know. Except for Phoebe that is." She answered, starting to frown a bit. Aaron simply shrugged though. "We have that thing in common, that's all." He said with a bit of unhappiness to his voice.

"Indeed that's all." Lila said, starting to look slightly angry again. "That's also why I'm saying this: Helga may not like me, but I _do_ care for her, so I have to ask you to _not_ get between them, please. Helga is finally ever so close to make Arnold fall in love with her too."

Aaron smirked in amusement, knowing that Lila's statement wasn't completely true, since Arnold had been in love with Helga for years by now. "Oh? And what gives you the right to tell me what to do?" he asked.

"Nothing. I know I don't have any right to interfere with what you do or don't do." Lila answered, her arms crossed beneath her chest and a serious expression on her face. Aaron frowned at that reply, knowing that couldn't possibly be all she would say. "Then, why _are_ you interfering anyhow?" he asked.

"Because, like Helga, even I can't always keep my mouth shut." Lila explained. Aaron's eyes went wide. How much out of character could this girl suddenly be? In a way, he was oddly intrigued. "I'm known as the sweetest girl in school, and that often makes people forget that even if I _am_ really sweet, then I'm still a human being with flaws and bad sides. One of my bad sides is my nosiness, so that's why I'm interfering right now." She added before stepping closer to him.

Aaron kept standing where he was, even if Lila was suddenly threateningly closer. Her face was emotionless as she kept speaking. "If you do _anything_, anything at all to ruin this for Helga. If you somehow manage to crumble the hope I have for her to finally find the happiness she deserves… then with what I'll do to you, you'll start considering _Helga_ as the saint."

Aaron's eyes went wide, the rest of his body freezing on spot. Lila kept staring him down for a couple of seconds, until she simply walked past him and went into the cafeteria. He heard the door close behind her and he just kept standing there for yet another few seconds, trying to comprehend what the girl known as 'little miss perfect' had just threatened him with.

Aaron turned to glance over his shoulder at the door, his lips curling up into an amused, but mostly incredulous smile. He snickered in shock and turned his head around again, simply staring at nothing in particular. He lifted his hand to touch his forehead, as if trying to hold his head steady, honestly believing his neck might break in shock.

Then Aaron started laughing. He didn't know why, but everything that had just happened had surprised him to the very core of his body. It was like experiencing Helga monologging about Arnold all over again, which had also shocked him quite a lot. Seeing Lila threaten him, threaten _anyone_, made him think that perhaps if Helga gave her a chance… those two could become quite good friends.

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: Not much Arnold and Helga in this chapter, I thought it was time to take a look of the other peers! They've started to notice and wonder if our two favorite blondes are in love. I also wanted to try and portray Lila here. I've been hinting through this story that Helga doesn't hate her, and that Lila perhaps could be a hidden accomplice.**

**Believe me: I'm one of the Hey Arnold! Fans who mostly dislikes Lila (she's annoyingly sweet xD) but I don't despise her as much as I could :P I like to think that she has a bit of a dark past. We don't know where her mom is after all, so I wanted to throw the idea of her somewhat knowing what Helga's going through out there.**

**I also like the thought of Lila being this positive because of the same reasons for Helga to be negative; to hide their sadness. While Helga **_**is**_** rude (in a lovable way :P) then Lila **_**is**_** also very sweet, but they both choose to act **_**only**_** like that one side of them. So, to me at least, they could be having such a thing in common. I'd like to think so at least :3 In a way, it'd also make me like Lila more… give her a little more depth, right? xD**


	34. I kinda ship you two

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**Finding out that his own cousin truly did have feelings for Helga, made Arnold realize how much he didn't want to hurt him. That, and the fact that Gerald explained exactly that to him the following Monday. Gerald also told him that the reason for his fear at telling Helga about his feelings was due to his former bad fortune with other girls.**_

_**Despite Arnold's current restraint against telling Helga about his feelings, neither one of the love-struck teen could stay away from each other, even to the level where their peers started to notice the lovely atmosphere between them.**_

_**Lila revealed a bit about herself to Aaron, when she explained to him exactly why she wished to help Helga get together with Arnold: Apparently, they have something in common when it comes to their families. She also ordered Aaron to stay away from Helga and Arnold, threating with something unknown, which scared and yet… intrigued him a bit. Seeing Lila being aggressive gave him the same feeling when seeing Helga being sweet.**_

**Author's 1st note: I am so happy to read the reviews! Like, seriously :3 I have to answer a small concern from two reviewers here: Don't worry! I won't stop writing Hey Arnold! Centered fanfics, I have like a million more ideas xD I just uploaded a new 'story' on my account. It's temporary though. It's more like a poll for you to vote on for my next HA! Story! Since I have so many ideas, then I don't know which one to choose for the next one, so you guys will have to help me… xD**

* * *

Chapter 34: "I kinda ship you two"

"Hey, Helga, there you are!"

Helga, who had been in the middle of talking with Arnold while walking through the schoolyard, turned around towards the voice. "Oh, hi, Aaron. What's up?" she asked with a rather friendly smile, Aaron noted. So did Arnold, who had to frown just a tiny bit at it. He still felt a little insecure about those two. For a girl being blackmailed, she sure didn't seem to mind her blackmailer all that much.

"Can I talk with you for a second?" Aaron asked, when he reached the two blondes. Helga couldn't help but glance at Arnold. "Uh… well, I guess so, but I was just about to walk home with Arnold." She answered, hoping Aaron would let her go.

"Yeah, I know. Sorry, but it'll only take a second." Aaron answered. Helga sighed inaudibly and glanced at Arnold with pleading eyes. He just smiled at her and touched her shoulder, his primal instinct telling him to mark her as his in front of the rival. "I'll wait by the front gates." He answered to her unsaid question and walked away.

Helga glanced at Arnold over her shoulder and sighed dreamily. _This is going so very, very well! It's so easy now. Oh, God, if Aaron ruins this for me now, I'll kill him…_ She thought a bit nervously and turned around to look at the boy in question. "Ok. What's up?"

"Simple: I have one last mission for you." Aaron answered with a regular smile. Helga's eyes went wide and she couldn't help but give a big smile. "Did you say… _last_?" she asked. He couldn't help but chuckle at her sudden enthusiasm. "Yes, Helga, this will be the last one. I swear." He answered with a nod. "I'm figuring ten missions would be enough."

Helga sighed happily and almost felt like bouncing, but then she realized that her last blackmail mission could be… _anything_. She started biting at her lower lip and gulped. "And what… is it?" she asked. Aaron smiled at her. "Don't worry; it's nothing bad. I just want you to have lunch with someone tomorrow."

"You want to take me out again?"

"I would've just said me, if it was me, Helga, but I'm glad to hear that you wouldn't be opposed to it." Aaron answered with a slight smile. Helga shrugged. "Meh, I don't hate you as much as I once did, so what would have been the harm?" she wondered aloud, gaining a couple of blinks in shock from Aaron. Her eyes also went wide, when she saw something she hadn't expected; him blushing just the slightest. It was almost invisible really, but it was definitely there.

Helga almost wanted to point it out, tease Aaron a bit, mostly because she suddenly felt embarrassed about that pretty innocent confession of hers, but she decided against it. After all, out of all of the things he could've asked her to do for that last blackmail, then having lunch with _whoever_ was pretty doable. She could cut him a break.

"So, uh, who _do_ you want me to have lunch with?" Helga asked, doing her best to pretend not to have noticed Aaron's slightly red cheeks. "Oh, uh," he started and then coughed a little awkwardly into his hand, making the blush go away in the process. "I want you to have lunch with Lila."

Helga's arms, which had been crossed beneath her chest a moment ago, now went straight down, hanging lazily from her shoulders. The name had shocked her so much that her whole body almost went limp, but she managed to stand up. "Excuse me… Lila? Lila _Sawyer_?" she repeated.

"You know anyone else named Lila?" Aaron asked with an eyebrow quirked. Helga chuckled for a second, though it seemed rather awkward. "How about _no_?" she both answered and asked to his request for her to have lunch with _Lila_ of all people! "Knowing _one_ Lila is one too many!"

"Helga - - "

"No! Why would I want to eat with Little Miss Perfect? In case you haven't noticed, then I'm not exactly one of her biggest fans!"

"That doesn't really matter, does it? I'm _asking_ you to have lunch with Lila, whether you like it or not." Aaron pointed out. Helga's mouth went into a circular shape. Then she started growling and even stomped annoyed in the ground, resembling a child not getting what she wanted. "But… I don't get it! Why her? Why _Lila_? Why would you want to torture me like that?"

"Because… Oh, just do it!" Aaron answered in annoyance and turned around to walk past Helga. "Oh, no, you don't!" she answered while grabbing his shoulder. She turned him around and glared at him. "I think the least you could do is give me an explanation. That seems fair, don't you think? Don't forget what you've done to me through this! My request is really simple: Why _Lila_?"

Aaron felt some guilt run through him, as he remembered the poem in particular. He sighed and then shook his shoulder out of Helga's grasp. She crossed her arms again and waited for him to answer her. "You won't believe me." He declared with a hint of annoyance.

Helga's eyes narrowed. "Try me, bucko." She challenged Aaron, who simply rolled his eyes at her. "I want you to have lunch with Lila, because I think you and her could be friends." He then answered, crossing his arms to mirror her position.

Helga's eyes went a little wide, her smile picking up on each side of her cheeks. Then she started spluttering with laughter. "W-What?! Me and Mary Sunshine?! Yeah, good one. What's the real reason?" she asked, finally calm after laughing too much.

Aaron just cocked an eyebrow at Helga, trying to tell her that he was deadly serious. When she realized that, her face turned into one of disgust. "You're kidding… Why? What could _possibly_ make you think that _Lila_ and I would ever get along?" she asked in incredulity.

Aaron shrugged. "It's a feeling." He answered with a sarcastic shrug. Helga's eyes narrowed again. "Try again, bucko." She said. He sighed. "Let's just say that I know something about her that you two have in common, ok?"

"… And what's that?" Helga asked. "I'm not gonna tell on her." Aaron answered, making her frown at him. "Oh, look who's Mr. Moral all of a sudden! You'll blackmail me, but you won't tell on Lila?" she asked. "Have lunch with her tomorrow, and then you'll find out what you have in common." He answered in annoyance.

"And how am I supposed to do that anyway? Just stroll up to her, all casual and say: 'Hey, Lila. I know we don't get along at all, but how about eating together today'?" Helga asked in disbelief. "I'd leave out the middle bit, but yeah!" Aaron answered, making her growl at the back of her throat.

"I can't do that! That's just… way too random! And kinda embarrassing too." Helga answered, starting to imagine the very image of _her_ and Lila having lunch together. It'd make more sense for a nun to work as a prostitute.

"After everything I've made you do, you're gonna complain about _this_?" Aaron asked with his eyebrows raised. "Hey," Helga said and lifted her arms. "it's what we do. You blackmail me about my feelings for your cousin, I complain about it and eventually _you_ win. What you gotta do?"

"So you'll do it?" Aaron asked with a satisfied smirk. "Yeah…" Helga answered and let arms smack down against her waist and legs. He kept smiling at her and she just sighed as she smiled back a bit. "Man, when did I become such a puppet?"

"Puppet? Are you kidding me? A puppet wouldn't fight back this much. Don't you worry; you're still filled with spunk." Aaron corrected with a smile. Helga couldn't help but smile back a little bit at that. "Thanks… I swear, when you're back in New York, I have to beat up a few kids to make up for this month."

"We both know that you won't hit anyone." Aaron said with an amused shake of his head. "Oh, and what makes you say that?" Helga asked with a hint of annoyance. "Because, according to your classmates at least, then you're not as bad as you used to be." He answered. "That's also why they've started to care for you, unless you haven't noticed that?"

Helga felt shy all of a sudden. "Uh… yeah, I noticed that last week… with the fake aphrodisiac thing." She answered and gave Aaron a bit of a judgmental look at the mentioning of aphrodisiac. Aaron just rolled his eyes though. "See?" he asked with a smile.

Helga sighed and then nodded her head in reluctance. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, The Ice Queen is melting. I get the picture; I'll have lunch with Little Miss Sunshine tomorrow. See ya." She answered, gave a halfhearted wave and turned around to walk towards Arnold again.

Aaron just shook his head in amusement as he watched Helga run over to his cousin. He kept watching them, as Arnold smiled at her and they started walking through the sidewalk. He smiled at the sight and then turned around to walk in the other direction with no real goal of where to go.

"What did Aaron want?" Arnold asked with a bit of concern in his voice. Helga sighed a bit and then smiled awkwardly at him. "Uh… another blackmail, so to speak." She answered. His eyes went wide. "He's still doing that?!" he asked in disbelief. "When did I ever say that he had stopped, Arnoldo?" she asked with an eyebrow cocked. "Well, no, but…" he started, but then faded out in a sigh. "Never mind. What did he… ask you to do?"

"Ugh… having lunch with Lila tomorrow." Helga replied with a cringe. Arnold blinked in surprise. "Huh? Why?" he asked in wonder, which made her shrug. "He said something along the lines of: 'I think you could become good friends.' Yeah, something like that." she answered and turned to look at Arnold. "Isn't that the stupidest thing you've ever heard?"

Arnold chuckled. "Perhaps not the stupidest, but at least the unlikeliest… You've always hated her." He answered. Helga snorted. "Whose fault do you think that is?" she asked in a whisper. "What did you say?" he asked, having not heard her. "Nothing important." She answered with an innocent smile. "I just don't get what would make Aaron blackmail me into doing _that_. I mean, out of all of the other horrendous things he's made… me…"

Helga shut her mouth as soon as she realized what she was saying. She dared to glance in Arnold's direction, noticing that he was scowling; not at her though, but at the ground. _Whoops… I don't wanna come between him and Aaron or anything, but… I guess that's kinda inevitable by now._ She thought with a sigh.

"Helga… what _did_ my cousin ask you to do through this?" Arnold asked, glancing up at her. Helga stopped dead in her tracks at his question, her eyes going wide and her mouth shutting like an oyster. "Uh… d-does it really matter? I mean… e-even if you _do_ know, then would that change anything? Besides your opinion about him?"

"Why do you care what I think about him?" Arnold asked with a confused frown, as he stopped too. "Oh, come on, Arnold, you already dislike Arnie for whatever reason." Helga answered. His frown got deeper at the mentioning of Arnie and why she didn't know, though he guessed that was his own fault. "See! You scowl at his name! I don't want your relationship to be like that with Aaron too." She admitted and started walking again.

"So…" Arnold started walking next to Helga. "So what you're saying is that… you won't tell me what he's done to you, because you don't want our relationship to get bad? You're worried about me hating my cousin?" he asked. She could feel her heartbeat quicken a bit. "Uh… well, doi!" she answered and stopped walking yet again to glare a little at him. "I'm not evil or anything!"

Arnold couldn't help but smile at Helga's sudden defensiveness. "I know that, Helga, I've always known that. Thank you… for caring about me so much." He answered, not censoring his own words whatsoever, which made her eyes go big and her blush obvious. He could hear her say a small, stuttering sound, almost as if she was breaking from embarrassment.

Helga turned around, her eyes shut tight as if she could somehow squeeze her shyness out like that. "St-Stupid football head…" she muttered in a childish way and started walking again. Arnold chuckled to himself at the mentioning of that old nickname and started walking next to her again, enjoying the calm stillness between them.

* * *

The next day, Tuesday afternoon around lunch time, Helga couldn't help but growl at the back of her throat, as she walked into the cafeteria. _I can't believe I'm doing this…_ She thought once again inside her head, as she scanned the room. It didn't take her long, before she noticed the natural redhead standing in line to get food.

Helga quickly jogged to the line, making sure to get in front of the freshman who had been just about to stand behind Lila. The freshman was obviously about to start a discussion with Helga, until she scowled at her and she stepped back graciously, obviously realizing that discussing with the angry blonde would've been like poking a stick at a bear.

"H-Hi, Lila." Helga said, mentally smacking herself for the small stutter. Lila turned around with a curious face, which got even more curious when she noticed who was greeting her. "Good afternoon, Helga! How are you?" she asked.

Helga already felt like groaning at the sugary attitude, but decided to ignore it. She had been able to be around Lila back in 4th grade 24/7 once; she could damn well stand to be around her for _one_ lunch period too!

"I'm doing fine, Lila. How about you?" Helga asked with as much politeness as she could muster. Lila practically beamed at the interest from Helga. "Well, I'm doing ever so fine as well, Helga, thank you so much. Was there something that you wanted?"

"Oh, nothing much. I was just… wondering if you'd mind talking a bit?" Helga asked with an innocent shrug. _Please mind, please mind, please mind!_ She begged in her mind, but the smile appearing Lila's face said otherwise. "Why of course! I'd be ever so delighted to speak with you, Helga. You want to have lunch together then?"

"Yeah, that sounds… ever so swell." Helga answered with a fake giggle, earning an honest giggle from Lila before she turned around to grab a food tray. _Great,_ Helga thought as she grabbed a food tray herself. _Not only did I say 'ever so', I even said 'swell'! Criminy, this is going to be one fucking long lunch period!_

As soon as Helga and Lila had grabbed their lunch, they went for a table at the far end of the cafeteria, Helga deliberately trying to get out of hearing range and eye sight from their peers. Lila didn't notice that intention though, as she simply sat down next to her, waiting for Helga to start talking.

Helga struggled to try to start a subject… _any_ subject. "Uh… you looking forward to the game this Thursday?" she asked, hoping for something school related to somehow start a connection between them. Lila seemed a little surprised at the question, but her sweet smile didn't waver for a second. "Oh, yes, definitely. I think it'll be ever so much fun to have a baseball match against the seniors, and with you on our team, I'm sure we can beat them too."

Helga smiled at the compliment. "Thanks, Lila; I hope we can beat the living hell out of them too." She answered, noticing Lila's eyebrows lift for one tiny seconds at the word 'hell', though it only lasted for literally less than a second. _Ugh, she can't even handle the word 'hell'…?_ Helga thought with an internal sigh.

Lila and Helga kept looking at each other, both of them waiting for the other one to talk. At least until Helga lost her patience and just rolled her whole head around. "I can't do this!" she declared a little loudly. "Excuse me?" Lila asked in surprise. Helga glanced at her. "I have to be honest with you; I'm not here out of my own free will."

"… I'm ever so certain I don't understand." Lila simply admitted and intertwined her fingers. Helga sighed heavily. "Ok, toots, I guess I just have to be completely honest… Yesterday, Aaron came over to me and told me, that he thought it was a good idea for me to talk with you, so here I am. You have any idea why he'd say something like that?"

Lila's eyes went wide, and Helga could have sworn she could see a slight blush on those freckled cheeks. "Oh, goodness, I didn't think he'd be as mean as to tell you that!" she said with some sadness in her eyes. "Huh?" Helga muttered in confusion.

"Oh, Helga!" Lila suddenly exclaimed and went to grab Helga's hands, making the blonde squirm a bit in discomfort. "I'm ever so sorry! Perhaps I overstepped my boundaries, but I just didn't want him to ruin anything for you. Please forgive me!"

"H-Hold on!" Helga said and noticed how Lila had started to pout. "Uh… j-just relax, please. I'm not mad at you; Hell, I don't even know what you're talking about!" Helga declared and snuck her hands out of Lila's grip.

"You don't?" Lila answered with big eyes, which Helga simply shook her head to as an answer. "No! Aaron just told me that he thought you and I could become friends, so… yeah, but… you have any idea why he'd tell me that?" she asked.

"Oh, I guess I misjudged him ever too much then…" Lila muttered with slight guilt in her voice, but then she shook her head to get it back into the subject at hand. "Well… that is perhaps my fault."

"_Your_ fault? Please elaborate." Helga requested and laid her cheek in the palm of her hand, the elbow belonging to that arm placed on the table. Lila gulped in nervousness. "A-All right… well, firstly… Helga, do you know that the gang has started to notice you and Arnold having become… ever so friendly lately?"

Helga yelped a bit, her eyes going big. "Uh… w-what? We're not extra friendly or anything…" she attempted to lie, but a look from Lila told her that she wasn't successful in doing so. "Ugh, ok, but so what? What are they saying?"

Lila shrugged. "Not all that much. Except they're starting to bet on when you'll start dating, how long you'll last and who will be the first one to make a move." She answered with slight amusement in her voice.

"What?!" Helga shouted with a groan. "You're kidding me! Those… bastards! How dare they bet on my love life? I outta - - "

"Helga, please calm down. They _are_, after all, all cheering for you two." Lila pointed out with a smile. Helga blinked at her a couple of times in surprise. "Eh? R… Really?" she asked, starting to feel a little embarrassed, but mostly warm inside.

Lila smiled as she nodded to Helga's question. "Yes! Granted, some of them does think it's ever so surprising, but are nevertheless cheering for you!" she answered with a cheerful voice. "… Huh." Was all Helga could muster at that revelation. She felt embarrassed within an inch of her life, and yet… it was kinda nice to know that they were cheering for them… in their own strange, self-rewarding way.

"Well… what about them? What does that have to do with Aaron?" Helga asked, wishing to get out of the awkwardly heartwarming moment. "Oh! Well, we spoke about it all of us just yesterday, and Aaron joined us." Lila answered. "While we talked about it, I couldn't help but notice something… _off_ about the way he talked and looked through it."

"… Oh…" Helga muttered, knowing exactly how Aaron may have looked. "Helga…" Lila said carefully and moved a little closer to her to speak in a lower voice. "Are you aware of… how Aaron feels about you?"

Helga sighed a bit and then nodded. "Yeah, I'm aware. He told me once." She answered. Lila was a little surprised to see the calm way of Helga handling such a thing. As long as she could remember, whenever Helga was forced to speak about whatever guy, who had a crush on her through the years, she always seemed disgusted to booth. "You seem ever so ok with that?"

"Oh, don't misunderstand, there's _no way_ we would ever work out. I'm still in love with…" Helga stopped talking, when she noticed that very smug smile on Lila's face. "Oh, don't look at me like that, you knew it already."

"Yes, I did. I'm just happy to hear that you still feel that way about him. I think it's ever so romantic that you never stopped loving him." Lila answered as she folded her hands. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, enough mushiness! Anyway, again; what does that have to do with anything?" Helga asked.

"Oh, yes. Well… and this is the part, I'm not all that proud of… but I kinda asked him if I could speak with him in private, and I… snapped ever so slightly." Lila admitted with the eyes of a deer caught in the headlights. Helga frowned at the odd confession. "Snapped? _You_? Little Miss Perfect? _Please_ elaborate." She inquired again with a slight smirk, wondering how much _snapped_ could mean to Lila of all people.

"Well… I, uh… I told him to stay away from you and Arnold! Please don't hate me!" Lila said as quickly as she could, as Helga had also spoken as fast as she could, back when she had confessed her feelings for Arnold to Lila.

"… What?!" Helga shrieked, when Lila's words had repeated themselves in her head. "I'm ever so sorry!" Lila said in a fragile, squeaky voice as she put her hands together in an apologetic way. "I-I know I should have kept my nose out of it, but I just got ever so worried! If Aaron did anything to come between you and Arnold, I would just be ever so sad on your behalf, Helga! Please, don't strangle me!"

A few seconds of awkward, terrifying silence passed. "… Kudos!" Helga said in a cheerful way and punched Lila's upper arm in a friendly way. "Ow…" Lila muttered as she started rubbing the slightly sore spot. "Huh? Kudos?" she repeated, when she realized what Helga had said to her.

"Oh, my God! I had _no_ idea you could do something like that, Lila! How… oddly ballsy of you. Man, I wish I could have seen that! Seriously; tell me exactly what you said to him!" Helga inquired with a big smile. Lila felt a little confused at Helga's enthusiasm, but also couldn't help but smile a little bit, since it seemed she was out of danger from getting strangled… she hoped.

"W-Well, I… I told him that if he did anything to ruin this for you, then… then with what I'd do to him, he'd start thinking of _you_ as the saint." Lila admitted, looking a little guilty. Helga's smile just got bigger though. "Oh… my… God! Lila, I could _kiss_ you!"

Lila giggled a bit in embarrassment, though she was happy to see that she had done something good. "Man, I would've loved to see his face!" Helga said, still laughing gleefully. "_Finally_, someone said something to him. Thank you, Lila! But… Wait… why did you do that… for me?"

Lila felt slightly embarrassed yet again. She took a deep breath, steadying it so she could speak the words she had longed to tell Helga for a long time. "Well… it's true that you and I don't get along so much… b-but, Helga, I… I have something to confess. I feel an ever so little connection with you somehow."

"Connection? What do you mean?" Helga asked with a bit of confusion in her voice. Lila took a deep breath again. "Well… have you ever wondered where my… mom is?" she asked gently. Helga shifted a bit in her seat to turn around to face Lila completely. "Well… yes, but I… I didn't want to question it or anything."

"Thank you for being considerate." Lila said with a smile. "The truth is… my mom committed suicide, just before my dad and I moved to Hillwood. That was one of the main reasons we had to move away from Pleasantville. It was an ever so small farming community after all. Everywhere we turned someone was looking at us in a funny way…"

At a point through Lila's confession, Helga had moved her hand up to cover her mouth in shock. "Oh, God, Lila, I…" she said with a muffled sound, but then moved her hand to hold it in front of her throat instead to talk properly. "I had no idea…"

"I didn't _want_ anyone to know, Helga, so that's ever so understandable." Lila answered with a sad smile. "But… then why are you telling _me_?" Helga asked in wonder. "Well… because I wanted you to know… that I'm putting on a mask… as well." She answered.

Helga's eyes went wide at that statement. "A… mask?" she repeated. Lila bit at her lower lip nervously. "I don't want to sound… assumptious or accusing or anything like that… since I'm doing the same thing… but the reason for me to feel a connection with you is exactly because of that… I don't want anyone to know about my mother! I don't want people to feel sorry for me or treat me differently because of my parents…"

Helga gulped a bit, starting to feel as if she had heard those words inside her own head before. "I… know what you mean." She then admitted, taking a deep breath to calm her beating heart. "Everyone knows that my parents sucks, but… they don't know how much, you know?"

Lila nodded. "And that's ever so understandable. Like me, you don't want to be treated differently because of it, and you act like you do to hide it, right?" she asked. Helga didn't feel all to comfortable having to play shrink with Lila, but she nodded anyhow.

"Me too. I put on a happy face, because it makes _me_ feel better, but even _I_ have my bad days, Helga, and my flaws. People seem to not know that, though." Lila said with a sad smile. Helga couldn't help but smile at that. "Yeah… me being one of them. I'm… sorry, Lila. The girls and I even found out that your family life wasn't perfect back when you were the new girl, but we all just… forget, I guess, because you seem so cheerful despite it."

"And people forget the good things you've done for them, because you seem so rude despite it." Lila added with a cheeky smile, hoping Helga would see she meant it as kindly as she could. Helga blew a raspberry at her, showing that she knew it wasn't meant in a bad way. "Yeah… but I have gotten better, right?"

"Yes, ever so much actually!" Lila answered with a big smile and straightened her back to sit properly again, since she and Helga had almost made a small huddle behind the table at this point. Helga chuckled at Lila's sudden cheerfulness. "And _you_'ve got balls all of a sudden! Ovaries or whatever. I still can't believe you'd say something like that to Aaron!"

Lila giggled a little shyly. "It _did_ feel kinda good to take a little bit of my anger out on him… He deserved it, right?" she asked, hoping for some justification. "Are you kidding me? Definitely! Hell, he deserves for you to actually do whatever you'd do if he came between me and Arnold." Helga answered with an amused frown.

"Really? Does he know about your feelings for Arnold?"

"More like I accidentally told him."

"Ooh… that sounds ever so ugly."

"It's been hideous!"

"Oh, dear…" Lila said, followed by a small giggle, but then started frowning a bit. "What do you mean it's been hideous, Helga? Has Aaron…" she noticed the slight alarming look on Helga's face and her eyes went wide. "Helga… has Aaron been… using it against you or something?"

Helga turned to gawk at Lila in shock. "Whoa, you're way too observant for your own good, missy!" she said in an astonished voice. Lila gasped in terror. "Helga!" she shrieked, but then kept her voice low. "That's ever so awful! Why would you let him do that to you?"

"I'm not _letting_ him, Lila!"

"But… But wouldn't it have been easier to have just told Arnold how you feel instead?"

"Let me answer that with another question. Lila, if I told you right now to go and tell everyone about your mother, what would you do?"

"N… No way! I'd… I'd like to tell people… at _some point_, you know, but not because someone else was… forcing… me… Oh." Lila said, as she realized how Helga felt. "Oh, Helga… that must have been a pure nightmare to feel like that! Wanting to confess your love, but you want to do it the right way, so you've been having to wait for the evil cousin to be defeated by your knight in ever so shining armor and - - "

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on, Little Miss Sunshine; don't make my life into a mushy fairytale!" Helga interrupted, starting to feel really embarrassed at hearing Lila's view of her situation. Lila giggled in an embarrassed way. "Sorry… it's just… Can I confess another thing, Helga?" she asked and leaned a little closer, as Helga did too. "I kinda ship you two."

"What?!" Helga shrieked with a big smile and leaned back. "That's really embarrassing! Sh-Shipping us… You're… embarrassing, Lila. What in the… I-I don't even know what to say to that!"

"So I hear." Lila observed and tried to cover her giggle behind her mouth, but to vain. Helga observed Lila as she giggled, herself starting to snicker a bit. As Lila kept giggling, Helga started to chuckle and then started to downright laugh along with this very unexpected new friend.

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: Well! I wasn't sure whether I'd actually make this chapter, since I was a little iffy on Lila and Helga becoming 'friends' or something along those lines, but after thinking about it, I figured: 'Hey, why the hell not? Helga needs another accomplice!' And, yeah, I always figured that in whichever fanfiction story, if Lila wasn't used as a villain - so to speak, then she should be used as an Arnold and Helga shipper! xD I seriously think she adores them in the actual series too! :3**

**And please don't forget to go to my profile here on FanFiction to look at my story called 'Vote for my next story!' Where you can... well, vote for my next story xD**


	35. I'm not just in love with Helga

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**To Helga's immense surprise – and horror – her very last blackmail mission was to have lunch with Lila, the girl who was her polar opposite. After some awkward, useless banter, she finally admitted to Lila that this lunch thing had been Aaron's idea.**_

_**To the blonde's surprise, Lila admitted to have gone against Aaron to tell him not to get in-between Helga and Arnold, earning a kudos from Helga. To both girls' surprise, they managed to bond after that, both realizing that they did in fact have a few things in common; even if it was sometimes in an opposite way. At least Helga now had an accomplice, and perhaps, in the near future, a new friend.**_

**Author's 1st note: Oh, we're getting so close! I'm not gonna say how many chapters there's gonna be left because, then you'll know when it's over! Ha! xD**

* * *

Chapter 35: "I'm not just in love with Helga"

"That… is… probably… perhaps undoubtedly… the _weirdest_ thing… I have ever seen." Gerald said with a purely shocked expression, looking much like Arnold and Phoebe, who were sitting next to him. The small group of friends were currently starring in total disbelief at their common friend Helga, who was laughing along with Lila, the girl she had hated ever since 4th grade.

"You think she's acting or something?" Phoebe asked, also in total shock at the view. "I'm… not sure. I mean… Helga's a good actress, but is she _that_ good?" Gerald asked, his dark brown eyes wider than ever. "What do you think, Arnold?"

Phoebe and Gerald turned to look at Arnold, who was sitting in front of Gerald at his usual seat. "Arnold?" Phoebe asked gently, him being obviously the more shocked one. To their surprise though, his shocked expression turned into one of something resembling slight anger. "I can't believe it… Lila went from being hated by Helga to be her new best bud in fifteen minutes!"

Gerald frowned in confusion and looked towards the two girls again, trying to figure out why Arnold seemed so mad at that fact. After a few seconds, it hit him. He rolled his whole head around, since rolling only the eyes hadn't seemed dramatic enough.

"Arnold, Lila's a girl. It's not the same thing." Gerald said, leaning a little closer to him to show Phoebe, that she was supposed to pretend not to hear what they were talking about. "What does her being a girl have to do with it? She still went from zero to… five in only a few minutes! I've spent _years_ getting to where I am now! What have _I_ done wrong?" Arnold asked in a whispering frenzy.

"You've been dense, is what you've done wrong!" Gerald whispered with a scowl. Arnold groaned at the back of his throat. "Years being in love with Helga, not having the guts to tell her… and then Lila strolls in and changes her relationship with her just like that…" he muttered in a childish way and banged his head against the table.

"Are you jealous of Lila?" Gerald asked, while gazing at Phoebe, making sure that she was listening too. Arnold growled as he nodded awkwardly, since his forehead was still laid against the table. Phoebe rolled her eyes. _Now you know how Helga felt back then._

"Well, Arnold, if you wanna change your relationship with Helga, all you have to do _is_ to change it." someone suddenly chimed in. Arnold lifted his head from the table to scowl at the person, knowing exactly who it was by the voice. "Easier said than done."

"The hell it is! Look at them." Aaron gestured towards Lila and Helga, making the whole group looking at them again. "Lila went from hate to… well, friendship, I'd guess, easy enough, right? All she did was being honest with Helga, which _you_ should have done a million years ago. How about following her example?"

Arnold turned to scowl at Aaron again. "What? Is that why you made Helga have lunch with Lila? To throw some kind of moral in my face?" he asked. Aaron crossed his arms. "You know, Arnold, I _could_ also have done it, because I figured out they could be friends, and was I wrong?"

"No, you were right. _Obviously_."

"But you're right; you realizing that one's relationship with Helga _can_ be changed just through a few words _might_ have been a bonus. So, are you gonna finally man up and tell her that you've been in love with her since you wore a fucking diaper?"

Arnold just kept glaring at Aaron, not caring about the fact that Phoebe was probably listening – He figured she had realized his feelings towards her best friend by now, she was observant after all. He then sighed and laid his chin in his palm.

Aaron rolled his eyes and ended up looking at Gerald, who was doing the same thing. The two boys got eye contact, both realizing the other one's thoughts: that Arnold need a serious push. Aaron grabbed the collar on Arnold's shirt and lifted him up from the table.

"What are you doing?!" Arnold shouted, grabbing Aaron's wrist, though he involuntarily kept walking behind him as he was pulled along. Aaron didn't answer; he just kept pulling him through the cafeteria, earning a few stares from some of their peers. At least until they got out in the hallway.

"What are you _doing_?!" Arnold repeated as he pulled his collar out of Aaron's grip. "Trying to get some facts into that thick, wide skull of yours!" Aaron answered with anger in his voice. Arnold growled at that answer. "And what is that?!"

"Oh, come on! I know you are dense, but this is getting _ridiculous_! What's holding you back? Huh?! After _everything_ that's happened between you and Helga, you're _still_ unsure about her feelings?! Are you fucking kidding me?!"

Arnold blinked in shock at Aaron's sudden anger, but his own anger just got worse because of that. "Hey! Helga's a tough girl to read! She's got a wall around her heart, you know!"

"Oh, 'tough girl to read' my ass! Sure, she doesn't wear her heart on her sleeve, but neither do you! Lila does; that's why she was able to do what she just did!"

"Yeah! And Helga gave her a chance, because _you_ forced her to! You forced their relationship!"

"You can't force feelings, you moron! You can only blow a little to the flame, and I'm starting to think that a little blow is not enough for you; you need a fucking windstorm or something!"

"Oh, yeah! Speaking of _blow_; what the _fuck_ were you thinking that night at Helga's party?!" Arnold asked, having realized how he still hadn't confronted Aaron about that. Aaron rolled his eyes. "It was an accident!"

"Oh, so you went to a shop buying Viagra by _accident_?!"

"No, you moron! I bought them with the intention of giving you that push in the right direction, but I was hoping I didn't have to use it! But _no_, you just _had_ to play hard-to-get that night, so I _had_ to do something! My God, are you even a man?!"

"Yes, I'm a man! Yes, I have drive! But _no_, I did _not_ want it to happen like that!"

"You didn't seem to hate it happening though."

"Not the point! It's not the action, I hated, it was the fact that it happened because of _you_! We didn't do it because we were in love and wanted to! Again; _you_ forced it!"

"You _do_ realize that if I had slipped that pill to any other guy, then she wouldn't have done that, right?"

"I _know_ that…!" Arnold answered, starting to pant a bit after yelling so loudly. Aaron panted a bit too, trying to catch his breath again. He had never felt so frustrated about _any_ person in his whole life; not even Helga had made him go this crazy, and she was a frustrating girl in many ways.

"Why, Arnold…?" Aaron asked, finally taking one last deep breath to calm himself. "Why have you still not told her anything? Aren't you tired of hiding it by now? Isn't it eating you up on the inside? I know it'd frustrate me to the very core of my body, if I had hidden my feelings for that long."

Arnold still panted a bit, remembering how Aaron also had feelings for Helga. "You're hiding it too, aren't you?" he asked. "Gerald told me… that you look like you're in pain, when you see me and Helga together. You're hiding your feelings too."

Aaron sighed. "No, I'm not… I've told Helga a long time ago." He answered. Arnold's eyes went wide. "W-What…? Just like that?"

"Yeah, just like that! It was easy, because… I knew what her answer was, so there was nothing to be scared about." Aaron answered and then gave an annoyed look. "Which should be the same reason why _you_ should be able to confess too! You should know her answer by now!"

Arnold's eyes were wide in shock. He couldn't believe it; was he really that slow? First Lila, then Aaron. Did everyone have the guts to tell Helga exactly how they felt except him? "When… When did you tell her?"

Aaron lifted his hands in disbelief. "Uh… after the aphrodisiac incident. I took her out to dinner, we talked, and then I told her. Simple as that." he answered, a little annoyed that Arnold cared this much about it.

"… What did she say?"

"Nothing! She said _nothing_, Arnold, because both she and I knew what her answer was! Words were unnecessary!" Aaron answered in frustration. Arnold still just kept staring at him, still unbelievingly dumbfounded. Confessing to Helga; to him it seemed like the scariest thing in the world, but Aaron had done it. Just like that. Because… Because he knew her answer? "What do you mean you knew her answer?"

"Oh, my God! Helga's right; you need to get your priorities straight! Dense idiot. _My_ turn to ask the question. _Why_ haven't you told her yet? You've had a million chances to do so through just this _one fucking month_! I can't imagine how many chances you've had through the years… so once and for all: Why… haven't you… confessed yet?"

Arnold and Aaron kept gazing at each other, Aaron waiting for Arnold answering, and Arnold unsure of what to say. He started biting a few at the flesh inside his mouth, as he turned to glance away. That motion was all it took for Aaron to grab his hair in repressed frustration. "You know what? Forget it. Be like that; miss your chance for the rest of your life, you moron. I guess your feelings for Helga aren't even strong enough for you to try."

That made Arnold's head whip right back up, his eyes wide before he turned around to gawk at Aaron. A couple of seconds passed, before Arnold's face turned into one of pure rage. "You can say what you want about _me_…" he started before walking slowly towards Aaron. "Call me dense, call me slow, call me a moron… but do _not_ belittle my feelings for Helga!"

When Arnold and Aaron's faces were merely inches from each other, Aaron pushed at Arnold's chest. "Then don't let me! Do something! Prove to me that you love her, which is already so fucking obvious! And she loves you too, it doesn't take a genius to see that! Dense and slow moron!"

Another few seconds of tense silence passed, before Arnold started biting at his lower lip. "And what about you?" he then asked. Aaron rolled his eyes and placed his hands on his hips. "What about _me_?" he asked.

"… Would that be ok with you? You have feelings for Helga too, don't you? Wouldn't you - - "

"Arnold… my God. Listen to me; you're a really nice boy, nicer than _anyone_ should be able to be, but you _need_ to stop thinking about everyone else for just _once_ in your life. Think about yourself for once… and _Helga_ too. You've been waiting for way too long to be together. _She's_ been waiting for too long! Forget me, forget Gerald, forget Lila, forget Phoebe, forget all of your peers, your family, the boarders… Think about yourself and Helga now, and do the right thing as you usually do."

Arnold and Aaron kept looking at each other, a strange sense of determination in the air. Aaron then started walking, not towards Arnold, but rather past him. Arnold kept standing in the same position for what felt like forever, while Aaron's last words repeated themselves in his head. Then, and he didn't know when, but a look of strong willpower appeared on his face.

* * *

"Oh, Helga, so that was why you wore that skirt that day? Well, I must say, as mean as it is to force you to wear something you're ever so uncomfortable with, then it _did_ suit you." Lila said with an honest smile. Helga laughed at that. "Yeah, thanks, I actually kinda liked it a little myself. I just… you know."

"Yeah, I know, and I understand that too. I'd kinda wish I would dare to wear these black net gloves I once bought at the mall, but I just can't imagine what people would say. They would be ever so shocked!"

"_You_ own a pair of black net gloves? Do you have any clothes to match something like that?"

"Well… I do own _one_ pair of black jeans?" Lila suggested. "You own anything _not_ colored?!" Helga asked in mock surprise, causing Lila to giggle. "Yes! Same way that you still have that skirt at home, I presume?"

"Meh, you got me." Helga admitted. "Hey… how about we, one day… like, went out to a mall and bought clothes with each other? Maybe we could encourage each other to try something different, you know?"

"Helga! That sounds like ever so much fun! I'd love to go shopping with you! Oh, I'm ever so excited already!" Lila exclaimed giddily. "Calm down, Mary Sunshine, but… yeah, I'll look forward to it too." Helga said with an honest smile, not believing how easy it was to talk with Lila. Having a really girlish friend, in a way her polar opposite and yet not, might prove to be a really therapeutic thing for her.

"I can't believe how easy it is to talk with you, Lila…" Helga muttered to herself, but Lila heard it anyhow. "Really? You're ever so serious?" she asked with big, hopeful eyes. Helga felt like blushing at the way that girl was staring at her. "Yeah! So stop looking at me like that, please, you look like a kitten begging to get pet."

"I am just ever so delighted to hear that you feel that you can be honest with me." Lila answered and then laid her hand against her heart, ready to swear to something Helga figured. "I swear, if there is anything troubling you in the future, please do come to me and talk about it. I'd be ever so delighted to help you."

Helga _did_ blush this time. Lila had some odd power to make her do that; perhaps it was because she was terrifyingly honest, which she was a tad envious of. "Yeah, thank you, uh… y-you too, me too, whichever's grammatically correct… Oh, whatever, come to me too if you have any problems you think I can help you fix, all right?"

Lila did her very best to keep her giddiness at a minimum, though she found it very hard to do so. "Thank you ever so much, Helga! I'll do that. Speaking of things to be fixed…" she answered and leaned a little closer to Helga. "Are you _certain_ that the blackmailing is over?"

"Oh, yes, Aaron is a lot of things, but he's not a liar. I'd also say that ten blackmail missions are enough, don't you think?"

"Oh, gee, _ten_, really? Well, I am ever so happy for you that it's over… so do you think perhaps that you should tell Phoebe about this too?"

Helga's eyes went wide. "Oh, yes! Phoebe! I need to explain these things to her too. Now that it's over, I don't have to worry about her getting pulled into it." Helga answered with a big, relieved smile and sat up in her chair to look towards her usual table. "Phoe… Hey… where's Arnold?"

Lila looked in the same direction as Helga, also noticing that only Phoebe and Gerald were sitting together. _Alone_. "Oh, yes… wherever could he have gone off to?" Lila wondered aloud, lifting her index finger up to her mouth in a pensive position.

Helga frowned a bit as she also noticed the absence of Aaron. "Aaron's gone too… Lila, you don't think that Aaron could've been lying after all?" she asked with slight worry in her voice. Lila turned around to look at her with panic. "You think he's telling on you or something? Oh, no! That's not the way Arnold should find out!"

"Exactly… L-Let's go find them." Helga said, standing up. "You want me with you?" Lila asked with a smile on her face and stood up as well. "If you don't mind." Helga answered with a crooked smile, already starting to walk. Lila followed her as a puppy, almost bouncing with happiness from being able to bring courage to Helga.

The two girls strode through the cafeteria. "Where should we look first?" Lila asked as they reached the door. Helga turned her head around to look at her, as she answered her. "I guess we should go to the schoolyard first." She answered and opened the door, still looking at Lila. "I mean, that's where I'd - - "

"Helga!" Lila shrieked, just before Helga bumped into something, falling down to the tiles beneath her. "Ow!" she shouted and grabbed her head, feeling it beat against her fingertips in pain. "Helga! I'm so sorry!" a male voice said. She opened her eyes and saw Arnold in front of her, sitting in the same position as her, as he had done many times through the years.

"Uh, that's ok, football head. I should be used to it by now." Helga answered and rubbed her head a bit. Arnold quickly stood up and held out his hand to her, as it was his custom to do. She grabbed it a little shyly, knowing far too well that _Lila_ of all people was standing right next to them.

"Uh, actually, I wanted to talk with you for a second." Arnold said as he pulled Helga off the floor. She blinked at him in slight surprise, gulping a bit as she remembered her former reason for panic. "Uh… s-sure." She answered and turned to look at Lila for a second. "S-See ya later, Lila."

Lila simply lifted her hand to wave, not having time to answer before Arnold was already pulling Helga along with him by the hand. They were walking rather rapidly, she noticed. His grip around her hand was also tight, as if he was trying to squeeze it in either discomfort or anxiety.

"What's going on with those two?"

Lila turned around in a swift motion to look at the one approaching her. "Oh, hello, Gerald, Phoebe. I am not entirely sure." She admitted but then turned to look at the still open cafeteria door. "But I have a feeling it's something good…"

"Yeah?" Gerald inquired with a smile and gazed in the same direction. "Lila, would you mind joining Gerald and me for lunch?" Phoebe asked with a smile. "We're a little curious about you and Helga, as you may understand."

"Oh, yes, I'd be ever so delighted to, and I understand your curiosity. I'll go grab my food tray first." Lila answered and went to skip towards her table. "I can't believe we're doing this…" Gerald muttered as he watched the giddy redhead going for her table. "Don't tell me you're not at all curios to what they talked about?" Phoebe asked.

"Well, obviously I am, or else I wouldn't have agreed to this little plan of yours." Gerald answered. "I mean, I don't mind Lila, but… just look at her. Helga's right; She's Mary Freaking Sunshine."

Phoebe giggled at her boyfriend's small joke. "But Helga suddenly likes her, so there must be _something_ you'd probably like too, you know?" she pointed out and grabbed his hand. "Let's go back to our table and wait for her, ok?"

Gerald simply obliged Phoebe, and followed her to their table. They sat down next to each other and only a few seconds later, Lila came skipping back and seated herself in front of them. "So, what did you want to ask me?"

"Well… first of all, why you and Helga suddenly have become all buddy-buddy." Gerald answered, earning an elbow into his ribs from Phoebe. "Not the way I would've phrased it, but…" she sighed and looked up at Lila again. "Yes, that is pretty much it."

"Oh, well, that's easy; Helga simply asked me if I wanted to eat with her and I happily accepted." Lila answered with something resembling a naïve smile. "… Just like that?" Gerald asked in disbelief. He noticed Lila's face tense a little bit. "Well… it wasn't… _completely_ unmotivated."

"Would you mind explaining, Lila?" Phoebe asked, before she lifted her hands in a soothing manner. "We don't want to interrogate you or anything. We're simply curious, that's all."

"Oh, yes, I understand that. I'm just not sure how much _I_ should tell you, since it's mostly Helga's business after all… but I should be able to tell you this; Aaron was the one to tell Helga to speak with me."

Phoebe and Gerald blinked a couple of times, before they turned their heads to look at each other. "Aaron told Helga to…" Phoebe started. "… talk with Lila?" Gerald ended the question with and the couple turned to frown at Lila again. "Why would he do that?"

"W-Well… I may have spoken with him yesterday, telling him… I told him some things that made him think that she and I have ever so much more in common than we thought and so he suggested her to talk with me about those… things." Lila answered, hoping she had been successful in her attempt at being vague.

She had. Gerald and Phoebe simply kept frowning, trying to wrap their heads around this peculiar situation. "But… that still doesn't explain why Helga would talk with you. She wouldn't take Aaron's advice without a reason." Gerald observed and turned to face Phoebe, noticing how pensive she looked. Almost as if she was on to something. "You have a clue, babe?"

Phoebe glanced at Gerald for a second before she looked back at Lila. The two girls kept eye contact, as they made a silent conversation. Lila could see that Phoebe had a clue to why Helga would do what Aaron told her; she had been having a clue for quite some time after all.

"If… we ask Helga… then she'd be able to explain this to us, right?" Phoebe asked, her eyes a little narrowed, studying Lila's facial expression and next words carefully. She nodded. "Yes, she told me she wanted to actually."

Phoebe smiled at that, happy to hear that Helga would finally admit the truth to her. "Thanks, Lila. I've been waiting for her to do that." she admitted, earning a smile from the redhead. "You're ever so welcome, Phoebe. Helga's been wanting to tell you about it too, but she had a good reason not to, I promise."

Gerald had kept looking back and forth between the two girls as they had talked, until they finally went silent and he had to frown. "What? What are you two talking about? Is this some kind of girl sorcery?" he asked.

Phoebe and Lila giggled together. "Not fair! Phoebe! You obviously know what's going on all of a sudden! Tell me!" Gerald begged, but the girls simply smiled at him and lifted their index fingers in front of their mouths. "It's a secret."

* * *

A few minutes earlier, Helga had been jogging behind Arnold, being pulled by his hand. She kept looking at the back of his head, having no trouble admiring his blonde locks as she often did when he wasn't looking, even if she did feel rather nervous about whatever he wanted to talk about. She had an odd feeling in her chest though; as if he wanted to say _something_… but that he wouldn't say it just yet. It was the way he was pulling her. With determination, but also patience. What on earth could that feeling mean?

Arnold finally found a place he figured would be ok to talk in. It was simply an empty classroom, but far enough away from the cafeteria for them to be alone. When he had pulled her inside, he let go off her hand to close the door behind him.

Helga, not really knowing what to do, where to stand or what to say, went towards the window for one reason or another. When Arnold turned around, she had positioned herself on the windowsill, both her feet up on it and her knees bend, fitting perfectly in front of the window.

Arnold just kept looking at Helga, noticing how the soft glimmering from the spring sun was making her skin glow, her golden locks almost shining. She was beautiful, as she always was and it both terrified and intrigued him.

Arnold took a couple of steps closer to Helga, making sure to take a steady breath every time he did so. When he reached her and she turned to look at him, he looked away instantly, a slight blush on his cheeks, though she didn't notice that.

"You… looking forward to the game Thursday?" Helga asked, hoping that her second attempt at talking about school would work better with Arnold than it had with Lila. He turned to face her, a look of surprise on his face. Then he realized she was trying to make the tension go away, so he smiled as he nodded. "Yeah, I think it's gonna be our best baseball game yet. I… really hope we can win."

"You seem more determined about it than usual." Helga noticed with her head cocked a little to the side. Arnold smiled a little at that very true observation. "I am." He admitted, starting to look out at the window over her knees.

"Why?" Helga asked a little curiously. She noticed how Arnold's chest got bigger, as he took an inaudible deep breath. "Because… I have something motiving me a little more this time." He answered.

"And what's that?" Helga asked with a small smile. Arnold started to gaze at her, his green eyes shining in the sunlight. It made her heart beat at her ribcage. "Because if we win this baseball game…" he started simply. "… then there's something I wanna tell you."

Helga felt something in her body; something she couldn't quite identify. The air between her and Arnold was thick with _something_, as they kept gazing at each other. She wanted to ask him what it was, question why they had to win before he'd tell her, but she just smiled a little instead. Somewhere in heart, she already knew the answers to those questions.

"Well… I guess we'd better win then." Helga answered and swung her body around to let her legs hang lazily from the windowsill. "Yes… Please do your best." Arnold requested, still smiling a little bit. "I was gonna do that anyway without you telling me to, Arnoldo." She answered before she jumped off the windowsill, landing gently on the floor.

Arnold smiled at Helga's usual attitude, which reminded him of one of the million reasons why he was in love with her. She took a couple of steps towards the door, but then stopped, intertwining her hands behind her back. "But, uh… like you said yourself…" she said and then turned her head and upper body around gently and gave him a warm, heartfelt smile. "Now I have a little more motivation."

Arnold once again felt a content silence in his heart, as he gazed at the girl he adored. The way she smiled at him, the way her blue eyes sparkled in the rays of sunlight, reminded him of yet another reason why he was in love with her.

"I'm glad to hear that…" Arnold answered, still with a comfortable smile on his face. Helga kept gazing at him for a couple more seconds, before she lifted her hand giving a motionless wave. "See you… Arnold." She said, something in her voice telling him that she somehow knew what he would tell her on that faithful day.

Arnold lifted his hand too, copying Helga's still wave. "See you… Helga." He answered. She smiled a little more at him, before she turned around and sauntered towards the door. She grabbed the door handle, opened it gently, gazed at him for two seconds and then went out of the classroom.

Arnold sighed, feeling his heart starting to beat again. He turned his head around, starting to gaze outside of the classroom, admiring that grassy field where he, his classmates and Helga most importantly would be having the match against the seniors.

He closed his eyes, letting his mind wander. Different images of Helga popped up into his mind, from back in preschool and through all the years he had known her. Without even choosing to do so, his mind automatically began to enumerate words that popped into his mind, when he thought of her. The reasons why he felt this way bout her… Her determination, her kindness, her fiery attitude, her passion, how she could turn his world upside down with a few words, how she was so twisted and yet so perfect…

_Aaron's right…_ Arnold thought with a smile, as he opened his eyes again._ I'm not just in love with Helga…_ He knew far too well how those simple words were so very true. He wasn't just _in_ love with her; he _loved_ her.

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: What EVER could Arnold possibly be planning to tell Helga after the baseball match…? Hmmm, that's a difficult one… Can't you just feel the sarcasm seething through me? xD**

**Anyhow, I just realized something, as I browsed through some random Hey Arnold related art. I noticed how a lot of people draw covers for their stories and for other people too, and I was like… Man, I'd love to see some sort of cover art for my story. The problem? Can't draw worth shit xD Like, really, I try to draw a cow and it'll look like a fucking rooster xD This is the only time EVER in my life I wish I could draw! All the different ideas in my head for a cover OwO Oh, well, I can hope someone would try to draw something based off on this story at some point, right? xD Yes, I'm hinting so fucking much – sue me! XD**


	36. Please help him!

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**As Arnold, Phoebe and Gerald watched Lila and Helga actually getting along, he started feeling jealous of Lila; she was able to change her relationship with Helga so easily, and here he still was; scared and silent.**_

_**Aaron finally snapped at Arnold, and told him a couple of truths, though he still respected Helga's wish to be the one to tell Arnold about her feelings. That was also they way it should be. With a new form of willpower, Arnold pulled Helga into a classroom and swore to her, to tell her something if they'd win the baseball game a couple of days later.**_

_**Now both of the love-struck teens were more than ever ready to fight against the seniors… and there was no way they could lose.**_

**Author's 1st note: Ok, I'd like to start out this chapter by admitting something… I… know… NOTHING… about baseball, ok? I tried to briefly google the rules, re watch the baseball related Hey Arnold! Episodes, but that's about it. I played it a bit as a child in gym, but that's like a million years ago (ok, ten years, but that's still a long time! xD) so, **_**please**_**, please try and accept any rules or whatever I might have broken through this chapter XD**

* * *

Chapter 36: "Please help him!"

"I… _hate_ him!" Helga declared for about the seventh time since the baseball game had begun. The people in the huddle around her nodded in agreement, as they all glared a little towards the seniors' team. At one boy in particular; a guy named Jake who, apparently, was ready to do just about anything to win this game. It was a miracle that, no one had passed out yet due to his serious hardballs, and even something resembling dangerous lumber like Arnold had, though this dangerous lumber was definitely not something he was ashamed of having.

"Anyone up for killing him when this thing is over?" Helga asked with a mix of humor and seriousness. Some nodded in mock eagerness while others just rolled their eyes in amusement at the very Helga-like suggestion; Arnold being one of them. "How about we instead go out there, win the game and watch him roll on the grass in despair?"

Helga turned to look at Arnold with an amused look. "Now you're talking! Yeah, sounds like a plan. We _are_ even, it's the ninth inning and it's _our_ turn. We can do this!" she answered with a big smile, praying in the back of her head that Jake wasn't planning any last minute stunts.

"All right, you're up to bat, Helga. Make us proud." Gerald said and put a flat hand in the middle of the huddle. "Got it." Helga answered with a little pant, like all of them were panting a little at this point, and put her hand over his. The rest of the huddle followed the motion. "Go, team!" they yelled in unison and threw their arms up into the air, before they went to their positions.

Helga ran up to her place, grabbing the bat and taking a deep breath. Arnold was watching her as she did so, as the rest of the team also did. She then swung the bat over her shoulder, spread her legs and twisted her feet into the dirt under her shoes to get a stronger stance.

"Why does Helga seem_ extra_ motivated?" Gerald asked Arnold in a whisper, having a slight clue to why, though not Arnold nor Helga had told him or Phoebe about what they had talked about a couple of days ago. Arnold smirked a bit. "I'm… going to tell her something if we win."

"Only if we win?" Gerald asked with a cocked eyebrow. Arnold shrugged. "Naw, I'll probably tell her anyway… but then I _will_ seriously wait until Aaron's gone. If we win, I'm telling her _now_." He explained.

"Does Helga know what you're gonna tell her?" Gerald asked, crossing his arms with an amused smirk on his lips. Arnold went quiet for a couple of seconds, a small smile appearing on his lips. "Yeah…" he answered with a nod. "I think she knows. It's the way she looks at me; it's like I'm see-through all of a sudden."

"Mmm, mmm, mmm! So you two are finally confessing. That was about fucking time!" Gerald whispered, earning a chuckle from Arnold. "You _do_ know that if Helga already knows what you're gonna say, she's gonna try and beat you to it, right?"

Arnold turned to glance up at Gerald. "What do you mean; 'beat me to it'?" he asked. Gerald gave him a disbelieving look. "It's _Helga_ we're talking about! She'll say it first, if you're not fast enough. Promise me to be the first one to say it, or else I'll never let you live it down!"

Arnold chuckled again and nodded. "I got it. I wanna be the first one to say it too. I'm not gonna let Helga beat me this time around." He answered and turned to look towards the field, noticing that Jake was getting ready to throw the ball at Helga. _Please don't get hurt…_ He prayed in his mind.

Jake's hand, which held the ball, went up to his chest, him preparing to throw. Helga bit at her lower lip, grabbed the bat a little tighter, before he threw the ball at her. For a second, she felt fear rushing through her at the almost dangerous ball getting closer and closer to her, but she shook the fear off and swung the bat.

The bat hit the ball with a loud clunk, sending it flying into the sky. "That's gonna be a home run!" Sid declared with big eyes and his mouth open. "Run, Helga!" Harold yelled, though Helga was already sprinting from the first to the second base. She kept her eyes on each base, focusing at one goal of the time, knowing that her team would tell her if the ball somehow ended up _not_ being a home run.

"Oh, shit! Hurry!" Sid yelled, Helga knowing it meant the other players were ready to perhaps catch the ball at this point. Using the last drop of energy she had in her, she twisted her left foot beneath her right one, gliding towards the home plate. She felt her whole body landing on the dirt, but also her foot hitting the plate.

"Safe!" the umpire declared, causing Helga to sigh in relief. Her team started cheering for her, as she forced herself off the ground. As soon as started leaning on her left foot though, she cried out in pain and landed on her butt again.

Helga could hear her teammates call out to her, as she put her hand on her ankle as if that would make the pain go away. "You ok, Helga?" Arnold asked, as did a lot of the others. "Uh…" she started, as he sat down next to her. She started moving her ankle a little bit, checking how bad the pain was. "It's not even sprained. I just twisted it a little. It'll be ok after a couple of minutes."

Arnold smiled in relief and went to grab her waist. Having already foreseen his actions, Helga had lifted her left arm to put it over his shoulders. Together they got her standing up and Arnold helped her towards the bench, while the rest of the team watched them.

"There's _seriously_ something going on between them." Sid declared with a crooked smile and crossed his arms. "I concur." Stinky added, earning a few nods from his peers. Gerald and Phoebe turned to smile at each other, so obviously happy for their best friends. They couldn't help but notice the seniors' rather extreme reaction to their current score though, especially Jake. He was almost fuming with anger. They were slightly worried, since it was Arnold's turn to bat next.

"I'm fine, football head, just focus on the game, ok?" Helga requested, as she was seated safely on the bench. "I _have_ to win now. You got hurt in the process!" Arnold answered with a smug smile and crouched in front of her. She rolled her eyes, put her middle finger behind her thumb and flicked it across his forehead. "Go!" she ordered and pointed towards the field.

Arnold chuckled a bit before he stood up, turned around and ran towards his position. Helga shook her head in amusement. _Boys…_ she chuckled inside her mind, but then sighed a little dreamily. _But, oh, how I love this one…_

As Arnold grabbed the bat, Helga turned to glance towards the seniors, at _one_ particular senior, who looked like he was ready to murder someone. _What the hell. It's just a baseball game. Sheesh, don't get your panties in a knot… I swear that if you heard my beloved, I will make you hang from Mighty Pete by your balls!_

"You all right, Helga?" a female voice asked. Helga sighed a bit and turned to look at Phoebe, who sat down next to her. "Yeah, I'm fine, I just want us to win!"

"May I ask why you seem extra gung-ho about his particular game, Helga?" Phoebe asked curiously. Helga felt her cheeks blush a little, at the remembrance of Arnold's words a couple of days ago. "Oh… well, Arnold, he told me there was something he wanted to tell me… if we win that is."

"… _Something_?" Phoebe repeated, eyeing Helga's shy reaction a little. Helga turned to glance at her with a smile. "I… have a pretty good feeling in my heart, Phoebe, and I'm gonna follow it."

"Oh, Helga, that's wonderful! But what if we don't win?" Phoebe asked. "Oh, we're gonna win. No way in hell am I gonna let us lose. Even if I'm sitting on this bench, I'm doing whatever I can to make us win!" Helga announced and then turned her voice into a whisper. "Besides… since this whole blackmail thing is over, then if we _do_ lose… I'll be the one to tell Arnold then."

"Oh, please, I know you, Helga… even if we _do_ win this game, and Arnold will tell you about his feelings, then you'll say it first anyhow." Phoebe said, crossing her arms in an accusing way. Helga shrugged innocently. "_Maybe_… but, come on, that's fair, right? I've been waiting for this moment since I was _three years old_, damn it! I have the right to say it first!"

With this last statement, Helga turned to look at Arnold again, almost feeling as if getting religious all of a sudden. _Oh, please, dear lord, let us win this… but even if we don't win, then I will just have to be the one to say it. I'm done waiting. I know what he's gonna say. Hell, he knows that I know! Why would I have to hide it?! The blackmail is over; it's officially not because of Aaron that I'm confessing to Arnold; it's because I want to._

With the mentioning of Aaron in her head, she turned to look up at the bleachers, where the audience was sitting. She found Aaron rather quickly, she knew where he was seated after all, and noticed that he was looking at her too. She was actually pretty sure, that she had heard him call her name, when she fell earlier. She lifted her hand and waved briefly at him, earning a smile and a wave from him.

"Strike!"

"What?!" Helga shrieked and turned to look at the field again, as Phoebe did too. Jake had just thrown his first ball at Arnold, Arnold missing it and the catcher grabbing the ball. "_No_!" Helga whispered in a frenzy and curled her hands into a pair of fists. _I bet Jake made some kind of weird ball or something! Arnold, forget your dangerous lumber! Criminy!_

Indeed Helga's assumption had been right; Arnold hadn't dared to swing the bat at the ball Jake had thrown, knowing far too well that with his dangerous lumber, that ball might even have killed someone! He tightened his grip around the bat and leaned forward a little again.

Jake smirked as he threw the ball again, having figured out Arnold's weakness. Arnold, yet again, didn't dare to swing the bat and the catcher caught the ball behind him. The umpire declared another strike and Helga screamed at him inside her head.

As if being able to hear her, Arnold turned to glance at Helga. He noticed the slightly panicked expression on her face. "Just swing, head boy!" she yelled with a scowl. He frowned a bit in discomfort and glanced towards his team players, who all agreed by nodding. "B-But - - "

"No buts! Forget your dangerous lumber and swing that fucking bat! Criminy!" Helga shouted, making the seniors start to banter a little at that new information. Arnold sighed at his teammates' encouragement. _All right, you guys. Sorry to anyone I might hit._

Arnold took a deep breath and got in position again. Jake was still wearing a really smug smile on his lips as he swung his arm up in the air. With a powerful throw, the ball soared through the air, hitting the bat as Arnold swung.

The ball went flying up into the air, and Arnold threw the bat carelessly as he started to run. "Catch it, you bastards!" Jake yelled angrily, but most of the seniors were mostly trying to cover themselves, all of them now knowing of Arnold's dangerous lumber.

"Oh, come on! You scared of a little ball?!" Jake shouted in anger, noticing that Arnold was already leaving second base. "Go, Arnold!" Helga, out of many, shouted in the crowd. Jake turned to look at her, having noticed this blonde girl particularly through the game. She was loudmouthed and an annoyingly good batter and even pitcher. She noticed him looking at her, and without caring who might see her, she lifted her hand and flipped him off.

Jake gasped in anger and started growling at Helga's rotten, smug attitude, before he lifted his head to look at the ball. It was on its way down to the ground, very much near him. Helga noticed exactly that and turned to look at Arnold, who was running towards the home plate. "Run! There's no way Jake's skinny arms can catch that ball anyway!" she shouted in minor panic, even standing up from the bench, forgetting the slight pain she felt in her ankle.

Helga saw in the corner of her eye that Jake had been having his arm up in the air, ready to catch the ball, but was now glaring at her. "What the hell! My arms are _not_ - - " he was interrupted, when the ball he should easily have been able to catch, landed on his head, while Arnold started to slide at the ground. It was as if everything went quiet, as it seemed that Jake had forgotten about the ball, and was now rubbing his head, and Arnold reached the home plate at the same time.

"Safe! The Juniors win!" the umpire declared. The whole field was quiet for a couple of seconds, everyone letting his words roam in their heads. "No!" Jake shouted angrily. "Yes!" Helga shouted right after, causing everyone to start cheering for the juniors.

"You _bitch_!" Jake shouted over the cheering at Helga, as he threw his glove at the ground. She kept cheering, as she listened to whatever childish rant he might be getting into. "That's not fair! You distracted me!"

"It's not _fair_ to throw hardballs, almost trying to bean every single fucking batter on the field either, and it's your own fault for letting yourself _get_ distracted in the first place! _Bitch_!" Helga shouted right back, earning a few laughs from some people in the audience.

Jake was seething with anger, but Helga didn't have time to notice that. She turned to look at Arnold and her teammates, as they were cheering together. "Come on, Helga!" Phoebe said cheerfully and snuck her arm around her waist.

Helga didn't even hobble as she and Phoebe went towards their peers. Arnold noticed them almost instantly. Wearing a big grin from one ear to the other, he took a couple of steps towards them. Phoebe instantly let go off Helga, knowing that Arnold would wrap his arms around her waist.

"We won!" they shrieked in unison, as Arnold lifted Helga up from the ground and swung her around. She laughed happily, as he put her down again. "You did it!" she announced happily, almost bouncing a little on her feet, feeling the pain sting only the tiniest bit. "_We all_ did it!" he corrected with an equally happy smile.

Helga giggled for a second, but then went quiet. Before Arnold could question the somehow odd smile on her face, she grabbed his collar and clashed her lips against his. He gasped into her mouth; his eyes going wide and his grip around her waist loosen in shock.

It was only their teammates, who was obviously dumbfounded about the sudden and very passionate kiss. The audience barely noticed, not knowing Helga and Arnold all that well anyhow, so why would they be shocked? Only Aaron, who knew both blondes rather well, started hollering even louder.

Helga slowly removed her lips from Arnold's, gazing into his eyes in a dreamy way. He kept gawking at her, trying to comprehend that she had just _kissed_ him! _Helga_ had just kissed _him_! He was just about to smile, when he noticed the sudden panicked look on her face.

Helga hadn't planned to do what she had just done, it just happened, and she didn't realize what she was doing until her lips had let go of Arnold's. She removed her hands from his shoulders and covered her mouth in shock with the both of them.

"I'm sorry!" Helga spoke in a muffled voice, earning some confused stares from her teammates. Phoebe and Gerald were both ready to interfere, if she suddenly got cold feet, but she continued talking before they could do anything. "I'm so sorry; I-I had no idea where that came from. I - - "

Before Helga could say anymore, Arnold grabbed her wrists and removed her hands from her mouth. Within a second, his lips was devouring hers, almost as if her lips had become the only sort of air he could breath, and he would have died if he didn't taste her lips again.

It was Helga's turn to stare in disbelief at Arnold's eyelids, while their peers started to shake their heads, trying to comprehend the really odd situation. Arnold's lips slowly let go off Helga's, her lips actually following his for a little bit, before she shook her head and leaned back.

"Don't apologize." Arnold then said, wearing a big smile on his face, panting a little bit from his heart beating from the excitement. Helga kept staring at him for a couple of seconds, as she slowly started to smile. Then she rolled her eyes dramatically. "All right, I'll never apologize again in my whole life." She announced.

Despite the obvious confusion in their peers, they all laughed at Helga's joke. She chuckled too along with Arnold, who kept gazing in her eyes. She could feel her whole body getting warm, at seeing him look at her in the way she had always dreamed of.

"That fucking, cheating bitch…" Jake growled yet again at one of the other boys on his team, still feeling the lump on his head. "You're lucky though; if that ball had hit your head directly, you would've been on your way to the hospital right about now." The boy pointed out, not feeling nearly as bad about the loss as Jake did.

Jake cocked an eyebrow at that statement. "Yeah, right. It might make me pass out for a second, but I wouldn't have had to go to the hospital." He answered and looked down at the ball he had been hit by. The ball he could've caught _easily_ if that blonde _bitch_ hadn't distracted him!

"You wanna bet?" the boy asked him with a laugh, knowing that for example a line drive could knock anyone out. Jake crouched next to the baseball, picked it up and threw it a little up in the air. He turned to smirk at his friend, who frowned at Jake's actions. "I'll take that bet."

At the meantime, the junior team had no clue to what kind of situation they would get into in a few seconds. They were all still cheering and celebrating with laughs and sharing their views of the game with each other.

Arnold and Helga kept holding each other as they celebrated with the gang, but soon Arnold turned her around a little, making her face him. "Helga… I believe there was something I wanted to tell you after the game." He pointed out.

"Oh, yeah, I think you said something like that. So, what is it?" Helga asked and shifted a little on her feet. Arnold kept smiling at her, hoping she indeed would let him say it without interrupting him. "You probably already have a clue to what I'll say, but I'll say it properly." He began with a shy edge to his voice.

Arnold started looking over her shoulder rather than her in shyness, noticing Jake and his friends standing in the middle of the field. Jake was currently holding a bat and just threw the ball up into the air. Arnold frowned a little, wondering what was going on, but as the ball fell down from the air, he realized what was about to happen.

Helga was frowning at Arnold's hesitation. "Arnold? Is something wrong?" was all she got to say, before he grabbed her head. "Helga!" he shouted in a panic, making her shriek as he twisted both of them around, switching places with her.

Helga opened her eyes and looked into Arnold's eyes as a loud crack was heard. "Arnold!" she shrieked as she saw his eyes flick in an inhuman way and he started leaning against her. "Arnold!" she shouted again, grabbed his shoulders and tried to steady him. Rather than standing up straight again, he started falling backwards, her not able to grab him before his whole body fell to the ground, his head hitting the corner of the home plate.

"Arnold!" Helga shouted again, barely hearing that everyone else was also gasping, calling his name and was now standing around him. She fell to her knees in front of him and lifted his head up. "Arnold, wake up!" she begged as she shook him. She went to grab the back of his head, but as she was about to lift it up, she felt something warm and liquid against her hand.

In complete fright, Helga removed her hand from Arnold's head and looked at her now bloody hand. Everyone around her was gasping, calling out Arnold's name and the audience was even starting to shout too.

Helga's hand started shaking, as she went to pull her pink ribbon out of her hair. She pulled it out roughly, not caring that her hair now looked like a bird's nest and went to wrap it around Arnold's head to stop the bleeding.

"Call an ambulance, you idiots!" Helga shrieked to no one in particular. She felt tears about to stream down her eyes, as Lila crouched down on the other side of Arnold. Helga stepped back a little, knowing that Lila planned to become a nurse. She entrusted Arnold completely to her, as she let Phoebe help her standing up again.

Helga was still sobbing a little in terror, as a thought occurred to her. Going quiet, she looked up towards the field, noticing one of the senior boys shouting at Jake. "What the fuck were you thinking, you psychopath?!" the boy shouted.

Helga put two and two together, and then she pushed Phoebe away from her. "You bastard!" she roared and started jogging towards Jake who, of course like everyone else, heard her ear-piercing scream. He turned around to look at her, panic in his eyes. He obviously didn't think that this would have been the outcome of what he had done, but she didn't care about his intentions.

Helga lifted her arm and punched Jake in the face, causing him to fall backwards onto the grass. "I'll kill you!" she shouted and was about to attack him again, but felt two arms wrap around each of her own. "I'll fucking kill you!"

Helga heard Phoebe and Gerald call her name behind her, trying to calm her down, but she was thrashing around like a wild beast in their arms. Her ponytail was getting looser and looser as she lashed around, making her look like some sort of untamed lion, ready to attack anyone who stood in her way.

"Let me go! I'll kill him! I'll crack his fucking skull open!" Helga shouted in less anger and more sadness this time, before she finally just gasped and fell to her knees. Gerald and Phoebe kept looking at her, as her hair hid her crying face from the world. They slowly let go off her arms and she let them fall to the grass beneath her. Her whole body was shaking in anger, fright and distress.

Phoebe sat down next to Helga, wrapped her arms around her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her, while Gerald started walking towards Jake, who could barely stand up in shock. Gerald grabbed his collar and pulled him threateningly closer to him. "What… the _fuck_… do you think you're doing?"

Jake gasped a little, his heart beating rapidly against Gerald's hand. "I-I didn't think he'd actually pass out! Not like this, honestly!" he answered, earning nothing but a violent shake from Gerald. "I don't fucking care about your intentions! You threw a fucking baseball at my best friend! He's bleeding and needs medical treatment, just because _you_ didn't like losing! You'd better feel lucky, because if Helga and I had been alone with you… then I wouldn't have held her back."

Gerald then let go off Jake's collar, and pushed him roughly at the ground before he turned around to Helga and Phoebe again. He crouched down in front of Helga, and laid his hands on her cheeks, pulling her face up so she was looking at him. "Hey… I'm starting to seriously consider your suggestion about killing him, but right now we need to help Arnold… ok?"

Helga had hate soaring in her eyes. She was obviously still furious, shaking with anger, as she started to glance in Jake's direction. After a few seconds, she turned to look at Gerald again and nodded. "O-Ok…" she answered and turned to look at Phoebe. "Mind helping me up?"

Phoebe nodded and started pulling herself and Helga up from the ground. Gerald followed suit and supported Helga too, while he kept glaring in Jake's direction. "I-I really _am_ sorry! I regret it! Seriously!" he yelled at them, one last attempt at apologizing.

Helga stopped walking, making Phoebe and Gerald nervous about what she'd do. In less than two seconds, she had bend down beneath their arms, turned around, lifted her leg and then kicked at Jake's crotch. He fell to the ground, holding his scrotum in both of his hands, and crying in agony.

"And what do you regret exactly?! Not hitting properly, since you were obviously aiming at _me_?! You regretting, because you _know_ that I _will_ fucking murder you after this?!" she asked, but he just kept moaning in pain. "Oh, stop whining!"

Helga then turned around and got in-between Gerald and Phoebe again. As if being robots, they simply put their arms over her shoulders again, supporting her as they went towards their peers. None of them could bring themselves to feel sorry for Jake. "I just called an ambulance. I have them on speed dial." Eugene yelled.

"I would've laughed at Eugene having 911 as speed dial if this situation wasn't so _un_funny…" Helga muttered with a light sob. Gerald and Phoebe couldn't help but smile a little at that. They knew how worried she was; they were too, of course, but it was good to see that she hadn't lost her mind completely.

* * *

"There it is! The ambulance!" Rhonda yelled, as she pointed towards the street. Her peers glanced in the direction she was pointing and surely enough, an ambulance had just parked on the street. Helga turned her head around again to look down at Arnold. He was still unconscious, but the bleeding had stopped at this point.

"Here." Lila said in a small voice, as she started to untie the ribbon around Arnold's head. She extended her hand and Helga grabbed the ribbon. As she eyed it, she started frowning and looking at Lila with tears in the corner of her eyes. "That's a lot of blood…"

"He's going to be fine, Helga." Aaron said, starting to rub Helga's shoulder. She turned to glance at him as he pulled her up. "How do you know that?" she asked, as they walked to the side, making room for the ambulance people. "After everything he went through in San Lorenzo, you think _this_ is gonna get him? Come on." He answered with a small smile, doing his best to soothe her.

Helga smiled a little at Aaron's attempt at calming her down. In a way, it had worked, at least until the ambulance people started pulling Arnold onto a stretcher. She could almost feel her heart tear at the thought of him going alone. "A-Any chance someone can come along?" she asked, taking a couple of steps towards them.

"There's only room for one of you kids." one of them answered, as they kept on walking. "Oh… th-then, Gerald would you like to go?" Helga asked, though she wanted to go herself. She just figured that Gerald was his best friend; perhaps it would be better if he went along.

Gerald shook his head though. "No way. _You_ go, Helga." He answered and put a hand on her shoulder. "What? B-But, what about you, Aaron, you're his cousin?" she asked him and turned around to look at him, seeing that he was shaking his head too. "You should go, Helga." He answered as both boys started pushing at her back.

Helga took a couple of insecure steps, before she started running towards the ambulance. Before she hopped in, she turned around. "Thank you!" she said gratefully, knowing very well they had seen through her and then jumped into the ambulance by the help of one of the ambulance people. The doors closed behind her and then the ambulance drove off.

"What's the plan?" Phoebe asked Gerald, everyone listening to what his reply would be. He looked pensive for a second, but then frowned at his friends. "Of course we're all going too! Except you, Aaron." He answered and turned to look at him. Aaron was obviously about to disagree, but didn't get the chance to before Gerald spoke again. "_You_'re going home to the boarding house to tell Stella, Miles, Phil and Gertie about what happened. Then you can all drive to the hospital together."

Aaron nodded in agreement, and didn't even wait for anyone else to say something, before he started running. "Ok, everyone, get your bikes or cars. We're going to Hillwood Hospital right _now_." Gerald said. Everyone nodded at him before they went towards their transportation.

"Come on, Phoebs, we'll take my car." Gerald said and pulled the keys out of his pocket. Phoebe nodded in agreement, and as they ran towards it, she couldn't help but wonder how Helga must have felt at this very moment. She knew that if it had been Gerald in that ambulance, she would've been close to cry and perhaps never stopping.

Much like Phoebe's assumptions, Helga was currently in the ambulance, watching as people treated Arnold the best they could. She could feel her body shake, and she just fought with all of her might not to try cry. At least not to cry loudly, so she wouldn't disturb them.

_Please help him… Please be ok… Arnold, please… You didn't even get to tell me, what you wanted to say! You have to be ok… or else I'll never hear you say it, and… and I'll never be able to answer you. Please, dear God, help Arnold… I'll do anything. To hell with the one being first to say it, I just want to hear him say it! Please help him! Please!_

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: Sorry… S-Seriously, I am **_**really**_** sorry. It's a cruel place to end it. Please don't hate me! I'll update as soon as possible! Will still probably be tomorrow as always though… I'm sorry! xD**

**And to anyone being a little skeptical about the ball hitting Jake **_**and**_** Arnold, but only Arnold passing out (he starts bleeding because his head hits the corner of the home plate). There's a huge difference between a ball having been in the air and then falling down, to one hitting you in the back of your head at full force from a bat.**

**I googled it. A 'line drive' (a ball being hit by a bat and flying in a straight line into one's head) can be pretty serious; a lot of pitchers have suffered from it apparently. Again, I know nothing about baseball, it's not exactly an all that popular sport in Denmark xD Then again, I know shit about soccer and that's our national sport, if we have any xD**


	37. We have all the time in the world

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**During the game between the seniors and the juniors, it was obvious to Helga and the gang that Jake from the seniors was willing to go to large extends to win. They had no clue it'd mean he'd be angry enough when he lost to throw a baseball at Helga. Arnold had been quick enough to save her, but was hit by the baseball himself in the process, sending him falling into the home plate and start to bleed.**_

_**In pure fury, Helga almost went to kill Jake, but was stopped by Gerald and Phoebe. They had to focus on helping Arnold, and who would want to risk her getting expelled for trying to kill a student, who was likely to get expelled himself?**_

_**When the ambulance came to get Arnold, Gerald and Aaron silently agreed to let Helga come with Arnold into the ambulance. The rest of the gang went to their bikes and cars, ready to follow them to the Hillwood Hospital, while Aaron went home to tell his uncle, aunt and grandparents what had happened.**_

**Author's 1st note: I don't even **_**know**_** how many chapters there will be… I know exactly what's gonna happen from here on afterwards, you know, but how many words it'll take in all, is sorta the reason why I can't say how many chapters there'll be xD But I'm pretty sure I'll at least reach 40! Yeah, definitely at least 40 ;)**

* * *

Chapter 37: "We have all the time in the world"

"What the hell do you mean I can't see him right now?!" Helga asked a nurse who was trying to calm her down. "_Please_ calm down." The poor woman begged yet again, as she held her hands up, ready to stop the angry blonde in front of her, if she tried to run past her into the room behind her. _Again_.

"I will _not_ calm down! Arnold got a baseball knocked into his head at full force, then he was knocked into a fucking home plate, which made him _bleed_ and you tell me, that you can't tell me _anything_?! Are you fucking kidding me?!" Helga yelled loudly, having already attracted plenty of attention.

"Would you be quiet already?!" a man sitting nearby suddenly chimed in. "What do _you_ want?!" Helga asked angrily, not caring how impolite she was; not that she was usually all that polite. "Listen, young lady, we all understand that you're worried about this Arnold, but the longer you force this poor nurse to try and calm you down, the longer it will be before she can help him, so sit down and be quiet!"

Helga's eyes went a little wide. For a moment, it seemed like she would continue her rant, but then she plumped down on a nearby chair, almost in a childish manner, as if she had been denied something; which she had after all.

The man, who had been glaring a second ago, now sighed a bit at the woman who was sitting next to him. As annoying this blonde girl's continuous rant had been, it had also been obvious how scared she was on her friend's behalf. They felt bad for her.

The nurse glanced towards the man. When they got eye contact, she mumbled a small thank you, which he simply nodded to in reply. She turned to look at Helga again and crouched down in front of her. "Now that you are calm, will you listen to me?" she inquired gently, hoping for a simple nod this time. She got it, but also noticed how the teen in front of her was biting her lower lip in frustration.

"Your friend isn't in any critical situation. As far as we know, the bleeding wasn't internal. That is truly all I can tell you right now. He won't die, that I promise you." the nurse said soothingly with a small smile in amusement appearing on her lips. The blonde girl had been ranting about death and funerals during her outburst earlier, and even if the nurse found it amusing to be this worried about a ball to the head, then she could understand the panic.

"I know that!" Helga answered with a frown, in a moment forgetting herself having believed for a second that Arnold would die, when she saw him with an oxygen mask over his mouth and nose. It had been a terrifying sight to see him being pulled into that room. "But… there are worse things than death."

The nurse didn't know what to say to that; especially since she still didn't know of Arnold's condition. "He is going to be fine." She simply said soothingly and laid a gentle hand on Helga's shoulder. "I'll keep you updated."

Helga's head whipped up at that. "Yeah, you'd better!" she answered, causing the nurse to giggle. "I swear I will." She answered, stood up and went towards the room where Arnold was. Helga sighed heavily and started rocking in her chair. She knew she looked insane doing so, but she couldn't just sit still.

After starting to even feel dizzy from rocking around like that, Helga switched to jumping a little in the chair, using the soles of her feet to do so. _Please, please, please… Oh, God, this is all my fault… If only I had figured out Jake would try to bean me, then I could've beaned him first or something! I swear, if I ever see him again, I won't care about the consequences; I'll cut the hands he used to knock out my poor beloved!_

Starting to feel her legs going numb from the bouncing, Helga instead leaned forward as she covered her face with her hands. She groaned in frustration and started rocking her upper body again. "Why is it taking so long…? A baseball to the head shouldn't be that big a deal, right? But it was a hardball… Oh, God." She muttered and swung her body around until she felt the wall bang against her head. "… Ow…"

* * *

"Helga Pataki?"

Helga's head whipped right up at the mentioning of her name. She opened her eyes and noticed her odd position. She was sitting sideways on a chair, having her knees bend over the armrest of her own and the next chair. Luckily, no one was using the chair next to her. No one dared getting close to her with the way she thrashed around like if it was 4am in the morning and she still couldn't sleep.

"Miss Pataki?" the nurse asked again, though she knew which one in the room it was. It was a different nurse from before, but the former nurse had described Helga. Even if she hadn't, then it was obvious which one was the blonde, teen who was almost going insane with worry.

Helga looked at the nurse and quickly went to sit properly. "Ow!" she exclaimed, as her hand went straight to her back. The pain from having it leaned against armrest was awful, but she forced herself up anyway. "A-Any news? Is he gonna be all right?"

The nurse smiled, which Helga's eyes widened at. _Does that mean…_ she started to think, but then the nurse started to speak. "He is going to be just fine. He has a small concussion, and he's a little disorientated, but he's just fine."

"… A concussion?" Helga repeated. The nurse nodded. "A small one even. We'll make him stay for a couple of hours just to make sure, but we're almost certain it's closer to a bad headache." She answered with a small giggle.

Helga felt her eyes roll back in her head, as she fell backwards onto her chair. "Miss Pataki?" the nurse asked worriedly, but then the blonde smiled. "Oh, thank God… A concussion… _Barely_ a concussion…" then her eyes showed death. "I'm gonna kill him for making me so worried for nothing!" she declared with a frown.

The people in the room started laughing, which hadn't even been the intention of Helga, but she smiled nevertheless. She figured they already knew what kind of character she was at this point. "Can I see him?" she asked with hopeful eyes.

"Your boyfriend's actually been asking for you." the nurse answered with a small wink. Helga felt her entire body tense at that word. "M… M-My… Ah, no! W-We-We're not d-dating!" she answered as she waved her hands in slight panic.

"What?!" the whole room exclaimed in shock, causing Helga to glance at them. After all the ranting, she had done at the former nurse, after seeing her thrash around like a lion in a cage and even hearing her mutter his name half-asleep, they had not doubted for a second she was dating him.

"Well, I am _so_ sorry to have disappointed you!" Helga answered with a small frown, still feeling her heart beat at her ribcage. "Oh, it was just…" a man muttered. "You were this worried, so…" a woman muttered. They all felt embarrassed about having shown their thoughts so easily, and having admitted to listening in on everything happening around the blonde girl also.

"A-Anyways… No, he's not my boyfriend… not really." Helga answered, almost feeling her cheeks burning at this point. "Not really?" a woman repeated to the girl next to her. "Oh, would you all just… give it a rest!" Helga said to them, feeling embarrassed to boot. "Can I see him?"

"Yes, of course." The nurse answered. She was about to say something else, but didn't manage to do so before Helga already stood up and started running. "No running in a hospital!" she yelled gently at her. They all watched in amusement, as Helga's pace went down to an impatient jogging.

With a pair of long steps, excessively slow for her taste, Helga reached the door and opened it. She peeked inside and looked around. It was empty, or so it seemed at least. She went all the way in, frowning a bit in confusion. "Where in the world is that football head?" she wondered aloud, almost as if she was playing hide and seek with a small child.

"Over here." A slightly weak, male voice answered. Helga's head whipped towards the sound and that was when she saw Arnold. He was using his arms to sit up rather than lying down, and he was looking at her with big eyes, as if he was surprised to see her.

"W… What the hell…" Helga muttered after a couple of seconds in tense silence. Arnold didn't even look surprised at her words. He just kept looking at her, as her eyebrows started twitching. "You're just fine… You made us all worry for nothing… you… stupid…"

Then Helga's voice went quiet, when she noticed Arnold moving a bit. He was lifting his arms with a doll like motion due to the heavy drugs still roaming in his body. He had a faint smile on his lips as his arms lifted all the way up, begging her to hug him.

Helga then let the tears that had been waiting to come out, finally slide down her cheeks. Without a word, she ran towards the bed. With a slight chuckle, Arnold pulled her into his arms, loving the way she held him so tightly. It was as if she was afraid he'd disappear into thin air if she didn't hold onto him.

"I was so worried!" Helga said loudly as she sobbed on Arnold's shoulder. "I'm sorry…" he whispered. "And here you are; just _fine_!" she complained with a wheeze because of her sniveling. "I'm sorry." He repeated and started caressing her back.

"Idiot!" Helga said, as her grip around Arnold got tighter. "I'm not gonna apologize _again_." he said, followed by a small chuckle as he started to slowly rock them from side to side. "Shut up…" she ordered, letting her nose rest in the crook of his neck. "Yes, ma'am…" he whispered with a smile.

Helga was in no mood to giggle at that comment though. "… Why did you have to go and do that?" she asked. "What?" Arnold asked. "Save me… You should have let him hit me." She explained. "Helga…" he said in a slightly chastising way.

"_No_, you should have let him hit _me_; it was me he was after! Or you could have at least saved the both of us. You're an idiot; always looking out for everyone else but yourself, and see where it put you… and because of me. I'm not worth saving if it means I have to worry about you like this…"

"… 'Not worth saving'? I don't want anyone, not even you, to talk about the girl I'm in love with like that." Arnold said as he kept smiling in content. Helga's eyes went wide at his words and she leaned back to stare at him. "What… did you say?"

Arnold moved his hand from Helga's waist and laid it gently on her cheek. "Remember that I wanted to tell you something after the game?" he asked warmly. She didn't answer, didn't even nod, but just kept looking at him with deer like eyes. "Well… what I wanted to tell you…" he said and she could see the words already leaving his lips. "… is that I - - "

"No!" Helga interrupted, making Arnold's blink in surprise. "Huh?" he muttered. "No, I said! I promised Phoebe _and_ myself that I'd be the first one to say it!" she said with a small frown. He blinked at her a couple of times, before he started frowning himself. "You gotta be kidding me… I knew you'd try and beat me to it at this too. I promised Gerald I'd be the first one to say it too!"

"Oh, too bad, football head! I have the right to say it first!"

"How so?"

"Because I've been waiting way longer than you to say it!"

"No, you haven't!"

"Yes, I have! Since I was freaking three years old!"

"Well, me too!" Arnold answered in annoyance. Helga had been about to say something, but then her mouth closed as her eyes went big. "… Excuse me?" she muttered. "W-What do you mean 'me too'?"

"If you'll let me be the first one to say it, then I'll tell you." Arnold answered with a smug smile. Helga blinked a couple of times, but then shook her head. "No way! Not after what I just went through! Have you got any idea what it feels like to see something like that?! Your eyes rolling back in your head, you falling down to the ground, you _bleeding_ like that until my pink ribbon turned _red_?! Uh-uh! I think I deserve to say it first."

Arnold's eyes went a little wide at that description of what had happened. The last thing he remembered was to swing Helga around after all, so to be told about those things was a little scary. He didn't waver though. "Well, all those things happened to _me_, and don't forget that I saved you! Doesn't that mean that _I_ deserve to say it first?"

Helga was about to open her mouth to say something, but then she felt a snort at the back of her throat. In slight surprise, she leaned back away from Arnold, who had snickered at the same time. As they looked at each other, the snickering turned into heartfelt laughter.

"What are we _doing_?" Helga asked as she kept laughing. "W-What we do best… _fighting_." Arnold answered, also chuckling too much to say much more. "Then… how about something _new_? We compromise." She suggested with a smile, forcing her laughter away. He looked up at her in slight confusion. "So… we say it… together?"

Helga thought for a second, but then nodded. "Yeah… together." She announced. "Ok… one." Arnold said with a smile, feeling slightly silly about this, but in a way… it seemed like the perfect way to do it. "Two…" she said with a big smile. They both opened their mouths. "Three!"

"Arnold!"

A booming, male shout could be heard from outside the room. Arnold and Helga turned to look at the door, as it swung open and Gerald walked in, followed by Phoebe and the rest of the gang. "Oh, man, you're alive! Thank God."

Helga and Arnold just kept staring at the gang in disbelief, as they started bantering about how worried they had been. The two blondes started frowning as they felt a really unwelcome sense of deja-vu run through them.

It was only Gerald, who suddenly noticed the obviously unamused looks on Helga and Arnold's faces. "Did we… interrupt something?" he asked, earning the others' attention too. "If you interrupted something?!" Helga and Arnold repeated in a mix of anger and disbelief. "Are you kidding me!"

The people in front of them stepped back a little bit, not used to having _both_ Arnold and Helga mad at them at the same time. "You know what? Forget it!" Arnold said and rolled his whole head around in relinquishment. "Yeah! Screw it if you guys are here to hear it!" Helga said, though she hadn't noticed Arnold even saying anything, nor had he noticed her words either.

"Uh, guys?" Gerald asked gently, feeling something huge on its way. "I'll just say it anyway!" both Arnold and Helga said, still not noticing they were talking over each other. The gang continued to stare at them, as they kept talking like that. They weren't even looking at each other; they both had their eyes closed, as they just tried to focus on saying those goddamn words already!

"The truth is, Arnold - - "

"The truth is, Helga - - "

"Ever since we were kids - - "

"Ever since preschool - - "

"I have been hopelessly - - "

"Helplessly - - "

"Completely head over heels - - "

"In love with you!" the two blondes shouted at each other in unison. They opened their eyes wide and started at each other, having only now noticed the other one had been talking all the way through it.

The silence in the room was thick with awkwardness; at least to the peers. "… Ok! Show's over!" Gerald and Phoebe declared together, turned around and started to shoo at the others. Arnold and Helga turned their heads around to look at the gang, as they started to banter in over each other.

"B-But what's going on?!" Sid asked curiously, as he was pushed out of the door. "Did they just say what I think they said?!" Nadine asked, also walking out of the door. "And yelling it like that?! Disgracious!" Rhonda added as she was shooed at too.

When the gang was finally outside, Phoebe walked out too, leaving Gerald to close the door. "Good luck, you two! Glad to see you're all right, Arnold." He quickly said, feeling the need to at least say that, before he closed the door and left them alone.

Arnold and Helga were quiet for a couple of seconds, both of them trying to comprehend what had just happened during the last few minutes. Helga was the one to pull Arnold out of his thoughts, when he noticed she was about to say something. "Arnold!" she said, whipping her head around, before he lifted his hands and covered her mouth with the both of them.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Arnold interrupted; making sure that Helga was silent. "You listen to me… _you_'ve already had your big, heartfelt confession, remember? When we were 9 years old, during FTI and up on that rooftop? Well, it's my turn now… ok?"

Helga didn't answer Arnold, nor did she nod or shake her head; she simply stayed put where she was, waiting for him to continue. When he was sure, she wouldn't speak any further, he took a deep breath. "Uh… I, uh… Huh. How did you do this so easily?" he asked. "The words just came running out of your mouth, and I have no clue what to say."

Helga lifted her hand slowly and removed Arnold's hands from her mouth, but only down to her chin. "Uh, I didn't really think about what to say or what to do… I just went for it." She answered. After a couple of seconds, she moved his hands up to her mouth again.

Arnold chuckled at the obvious attempt at trying to calm him down, as he removed his hands from the now smiling Helga. "Seriously, Arnold…" she started and shifted a little on the bed to get closer to him. "I've been dreaming about hearing these words for so long that… no matter what you say, it'll be wonderful. So just say whatever you want… ok?"

Arnold blinked a couple of times, before his eyes went half-lidded. "You're amazing, Helga." He said, which caused her to giggle in that wonderful way he had only heard a handful of times. "Well, I'm a pretty amazing person, football head."

Arnold simply smiled at that, doing his best not to get caught up on his need to laugh. He'd been wanting to say this for so long, and now he didn't even know how to say it. _If my words fail… she'll know what I mean. She understand me better than anyone else does. If my words doesn't make any sense, she'll understand… Helga will understand._ He thought soothingly to calm himself.

"Helga… do you remember when we first met?" Arnold then asked, trying to simply start from the beginning, so to speak. Helga cocked her head to the side, as she continued to smile. "Yeah… pretty clearly actually." She answered.

"Do you remember what my first words to you were?" Arnold asked. Helga looked mockingly pensive for a second, before she giggled. "You said, and I quote: 'Hi, nice bow. I like your bow, because it's pink like your pants.'" She answered as she snuck her hand into her pocket. She pulled the ribbon out of it and showed it to him.

"Oh, God, I did that?" Arnold asked with big eyes. Helga nodded. "You see why I was freaking out?" she asked, which he nodded to in reply. "I'm sorry…" he muttered with a slight frown. "Naw, don't sweat it. Having worn the same bow for 13 years, I know how to get rid of a little blood…" she answered and pushed it into her pocket again. "… but don't you dare bleed ever again."

"I can't believe you remember that." Arnold said in wonder with a dreamy smile. "Oh, please… it was my first compliment ever; of course I remember. I can't believe _you_ remember." Helga answered and started leaning against one of the two pillows on the bed.

"Of course I do. Since… Since my heart broke a little when I saw you that day."

"… What do you mean?"

"You were all muddy and looked really sad… I covered you with my umbrella, right?"

"Yeah… what was up with that anyway, Arnoldo? I was already muddy from head to toe. If anything, then the rain may have washed it off."

"I was three years old; how was I supposed to think of such logic?" Arnold asked with an amused smirk. Helga just shrugged. "I guess not. It was still really cute though… and so very typical you. Always saving everyone… You sure saved _me_ that day."

"Helga, it's starting to sound like this is _your_ confession." Arnold pointed out with an amused smirk. "Sorry… Please continue." Helga answered with a loving smile. He chuckled a bit at her. "You remember what else happened that day?"

"… You mean you giving me the crackers?"

"Yeah… but mostly… what happened _after_ that?" Arnold asked, knowing that Helga would know what he talked about. She turned her head away from him, looking through the room rather than him now. "Uh… yeah, I do remember that too. What about it?"

"… Did I… without meaning to… start this whole… bully thing?" Arnold asked gently. Helga's eyes went wide open and she turned to look at him in confusion. "Huh? Why would you think that, football head?"

"… It's just…" Arnold turned to look towards his lap, feeling a little nervous about this new turn the conversation had taken. "I've always wondered… if I had just, you know, _not_ given you those crackers… then maybe Harold wouldn't have laughed at you, and then you wouldn't have hit him and… everything after that?"

"… Arnold… Harold was _already_ laughing at me and making fun of me… He stole my crackers, for heaven's sake. At that age, stealing crackers is like stealing a cell phone at our current age. I already believed back then that everyone was against me. If anything, then you… you showed me that at least _one_ person wasn't."

Arnold almost blushed at that small confession from Helga. He started smiling. "You really believe that?" he asked. She rolled her eyes and pushed her elbow gently at his upper arm. "I really do… and so will you from now on, got it?" she ordered, which made him nod.

"Well… I think that ever since that day, then I seriously believed your bullying was somehow my fault… Maybe that's _one_ of the reasons I always put up with whatever you did back then."

"_One_ of the reasons?" Helga repeated and started bashing her eyelashes at Arnold with an eager smile. He smiled right back at her in amusement. "I'll get there. Be patient." He begged, which made her pout a bit. "I _have_ been patient. Thirteen years, bucko, and you know patience isn't one of my traits!"

"I know, I know, but… I just want to get a few things off my shoulders… ok?" Arnold requested. "Oh… all right." Helga answered with a smile in impatience. _Cute_ impatience, if you asked Arnold. "Thank you. Besides, you got to admit a few things as well in _your_ confession, right?"

Helga's eyes went a little wide. Words like 'stalking', 'shrines' and 'poems' went through her mind, as she slowly turned to face Arnold. "I thought this was about _your_ confession?" she asked. He cocked an eyebrow at her. "I _have_ to know, Helga, I've been smothered in curiosity ever since you told me that."

"That's seven years ago, Arnoldo, you can wait another fifty years." Helga answered and crossed her arms in dismissal. Arnold's eyes went a little wide. "Fifty… years, Helga?" he asked and started to smile broadly. She turned to look at him in confusion, until she figured what he was talking about. "What? A… A girl can dream, right?" she asked with a slight frown.

Helga kept frowning, until she noticed the very, _very_ happy smile on Arnold's face. She felt her cheeks blush a little bit, as she started to wonder what that smile meant. "A boy can dream too." He said simply, as a slight blush appeared on his cheeks, though his facial expressions didn't look embarrassed at all.

Helga felt her heart pump at her ribcage, but she didn't care about such a thing anymore. _Oh, let it beat like that if it wants to… Who cares if he notices?_ She thought before she laid her head on Arnold's shoulder, almost subconsciously leaning her heart against his arm.

Arnold could feel Helga's heart pumping against his arm, which him turn around a little too. He took her hand in his, lifted it up to his chest and laid it against his heart. Her heartbeat quickened at that small, tender action. His heart was beating as rapidly as hers was, and she could've sworn they were in sync.

"I wonder if hearts starts to beat together, if they find love in another…" Helga whispered near Arnold's ear. His eyes went a little wide and she could feel his heart beat faster after her small rhyme. "Th-That's my answer to your question, Arnold… I just made that up, but… _yes_… I have been writing poetry about you through the years…"

"Whoa… so… those little pink books you usually write in, are those…"

"Y-Yeah…"

"All of them?"

"Every single one of them."

Arnold wondered if he should ask his next question, but Helga seemed willing to talk, so he decided to test his luck. "I… once found a small, pink book with poems in it actually…" he pointed out, letting only his eyes look at her. He could see her eyes going big and so did her blush. "Uh… Uh-huh? Well, that's…" she started, but then she sighed. "Mine." She admitted with slight annoyance.

Arnold couldn't help but smile, as he started to remember the poems he had read countless times ever since having found that book. "I… still have it, you know." He said. Helga removed her head from his shoulder to stare at him. "You're kidding… Why?"

"I… like them." Arnold answered with a slight shrug. Helga blinked a couple of times, before she simply let her head fall onto his shoulder again. "Th-That's just because they give you an ego boost. They _are_ all declared to you after all."

"You could've been writing about World War Two, and I'd _still_ like them." Arnold announced seriously. Helga turned her head around a little as she quirked an eyebrow at that statement. "I don't like hearing about wars." He admitted.

"I know that." Helga answered with a smile and laid her head against Arnold's shoulder again. "I guess you do… You know a lot about me. Almost everything really." He pointed out and started to poke his fingertips at the palm of her hand. With a small giggle, she spread her fingers and intertwined them with his.

"I'd like to think so." Helga answered with a dreamy smile on her lips. "Yeah… I mean, if you really _did_ stalk me back then, I guess you're bound to know _a lot of_ things, right?" Arnold asked in an innocent voice and turned his head again to look at her reaction. "How serious were you about that anyway?"

Rather than panicking yet again, Helga simply snuggled closer to Arnold. "We'll talk about that in ten years, bucko…" she answered. "Hey, what happened to the fifty years?" he asked with a chuckle. "With the way you're questioning me, you'll only make it ten years." She answered teasingly, followed by a small yawn. She didn't even know what time it was, but it had felt like forever since the baseball game had ended.

"I got it. I'll shut up." Arnold answered and caressed his head against Helga's. She lifted her hand and started to pat his head. "Good football head." She said teasingly, followed by another yawn and laid her hand back on his chest.

Arnold closed his eyes like Helga had also done, and just enjoyed the peaceful silence between them. He didn't know how long they were like that, probably only a few minutes, until he remembered his task at hand.

"Helga…? I was supposed to tell you something, right?" Arnold reminded her. He had expected an answer – of course – but all he could hear was Helga's soft breathing. "Helga?" he asked in a whisper and twisted his head a little to look at her.

Arnold couldn't help but chuckle. "Falling asleep before I even get to tell you… I guess you really tired yourself out from worrying so much?" he wondered aloud and lifted his hand to remove a lock of hair from her face. She smiled in her sleep and snuggled even closer to him.

"It doesn't matter…" Arnold muttered and lifted the blanket over the both of them, as he laid down on the bed, pulling her gently down with him. "You said it yourself, Helga… We have all the time in the world…"

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**Author's 2nd note: Don't worry! I have more planned! Stay tuned for the next chapter! :P**


	38. Are other things about to change too?

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**By the time, Helga could finally see Arnold at the hospital, everyone in the waiting room knew about both of the teens. She had been in a complete panic, even at the verge of going insane, before she finally ran into his room – with the nurse's acceptance this time.**_

_**What had been supposed to be Arnold's confession, quickly turned into one of their usual small fights, which was interrupted, just as they had both been about to confess towards the end. In frustration, they both yelled that they were in love at each other, making Gerald and Phoebe shooing the rest of the gang out.**_

_**After speaking for some time, Helga fell asleep, before she could truly hear Arnold say those sweet words to her. She had already heard plenty though, and it didn't take a genius to know that they were finally together.**_

**Author's 1st note: Whoo! This story's got a cover now! Thanks a lot to 106Eli! :D That doesn't mean you shouldn't try and draw something though, please just tell me so I can see it! xD I'll try and figure out a way to somehow advertise whatever anyone might draw based on this story. Though, for now, I can't think of anything else than making a folder in my favorites on DeviantArt called "Cover art for my FanFictions". Please give any suggestions to how I can promote the art people make based on this! :D**

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Chapter 38: "Are other things about to change too?"

"I am gonna have that Jake kid arrested!" Miles said angrily for about the seventh time. He, his wife and nephew were currently jogging through the hallway of Hillwood Hospital. "I don't think he can get arrested for something like that, dear." Stella said in a disappointed voice. "Oh, just watch me! I'm gonna make that kid regret he ever laid a hand on my boy!"

"This is it." Aaron declared, when they reached the right door. He went for the door handle and opened it gently. "Is he awake?" Miles asked gently, as Aaron peeked in. They could see his eyes go wide. He blinked for a couple of times, before he started smiling and almost snickering. "What's so funny?"

Aaron turned around to face his uncle and aunt. He laid his index finger against his mouth and then gestured for them to follow him. Stella and Miles looked worriedly at each other, before they slowly followed him. Aaron stopped near the middle of the room, exactly enough place for them to enter too.

Stella and Miles' eyes went wide at the sight. Their son was currently sleeping on the bed with none other than Helga Pataki laying in his arms, who was also sleeping peacefully. After getting over the shock, Stella lifted her hand to cover her mouth and the giggle threatening to get out. Miles just crossed his arms with an amused smirk on his lips. "Well, well, well, guess all it took for them to finally take the step was for him to get hurt."

"I think he's fine. Look at the way he's smiling!" Aaron declared, as his voice got a little high, since he was trying to seal his laughter as well. Since he and Stella had snickered at the same time, the sound had been loud enough for the two blondes to start stirring a little.

"Shhh." Miles begged, hoping to be able to look at his son in this happy moment for a bit longer. Stella and Aaron managed to conceal their laughter, as they watched Arnold and Helga snuggling closer against each other.

"Did I mention that Helga gave Arnold the biggest kiss I've ever seen during the game?" Aaron asked, knowing very well that he hadn't whatsoever. Stella and Miles turned to look at him in incredulity. "Really?!" Stella shrieked happily, but instantly covered her own mouth in shock.

They saw that Arnold's eyes were fluttering open a little. He didn't notice them though, since his face was turned against Helga's. His eyes opened a little more, and as he seemed to recognize the face next to him, he started to smile. Stella had to try very hard not to shriek at the image of Arnold gently laying his lips against Helga's forehead, earning a big smile from her in her sleep.

"_That_ reminds me of a certain someone…" Stella declared and started smirking at her husband. "He's got it from his old man." Miles answered back and gave his wife a kiss on the forehead. "Ok, enough mushiness." Aaron declared and was obviously about to talk louder this time around.

"Wait!" Stella begged in a whisper and started walking towards the bed, as she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. "Stella…" Miles chastised, but couldn't help at laughing at the idea. With a small click of her phone, she walked back to the men behind her. "Aren't they just adorable?"

Miles and Aaron leaned forward to look at the picture and, indeed, it was pretty high on the cuteness scale. "Looks like you guys have the picture for the next Christmas card." Aaron observed with a small chuckle. Stella gasped in happiness and bounced a little at the thought.

"Honey, our son would kill us if we used that, and frankly, so would Helga." Miles pointed out, though he agreed with Aaron just as much as his wife did. "I think as long as you give Helga a Christmas card with that picture, then she won't mind." Aaron answered with a small smile, as he gazed at the picture. _Congratulations, Helga, you finally got what you've always wanted._

Stella and Miles turned to look at each other. The odd smile on Aaron made them wonder what exactly had been going on in their son's life. However, they didn't worry long, because Aaron seemed genuinely happy on his cousin and Helga's behalf. Besides, he suddenly moved his hands up to his mouth and yelled. "Wake up, lovebirds!"

Helga gasped a little at the loud sound and opened her eyes instantly. Arnold's eyes on the other hand fluttered open slowly. "What in the holy world _was_ that?" Helga wondered aloud, having obviously not noticed the presence of anyone else in the room besides herself and Arnold.

"Ow, my head…" Arnold muttered and started rubbing it a bit. Helga sat up a little and looked worriedly at him. "Does it hurt?" she asked. He nodded a bit. "Yeah… it's a splitting headache. I wonder why? It wasn't this bad before…"

"Oh, poor thing. Want me to kiss it away?" Helga asked with slight sarcasm. Arnold blushed a bit the idea and turned to look at her in a mix of disbelief and happiness. "Y-You're really blunt, huh?" he asked. She shrugged. "Haven't I always been? I don't see any point in changing that now… even if other things have." She answered and started leaning against his forehead.

Arnold closed his eyes, waiting for the kiss. "Yeah… not all things have to change…" he muttered happily as Helga's lips were just about to touch his forehead, until a loud cough made her freeze. They both blinked a couple of times in surprise. "Uh… was that you, football head?" she asked before she leaned back to look at him. "Uh-uh." He answered as he shook his head.

"Over here, turtledoves." Aaron answered as he waved mockingly. Helga and Arnold slowly turned their heads around. "Mom? Dad? Aaron?" Arnold asked slowly, as he tried to comprehend his situation. When he had, he gave a look of slight, childish annoyance. "Couldn't you have waited till she had kissed me?"

Helga's cheeks turned scarlet red at _Arnold_'s sudden bluntness and she couldn't help but gently slap him on the chest in a reprimanding way. "Sh-Shut up." She muttered and went to swing her legs out of the bed, but the cover stopped her. She eyed it for a second and then turned around to look at Arnold in disbelief. "Care to explain this?"

"What do you mean?" Arnold asked innocently. "_I_" Helga lifted her finger up to point at herself. "didn't move the covers up around us." She pointed out teasingly, causing the boy in bed with her to blush a bit. "I-I didn't want us to get cold!"

"Oh, please! How could I possibly be cold with you hanging over me like that anyway?" Helga asked with an eyebrow quirked. Arnold rolled his eyes. "_You_ were the one who snuggled up to _me_." He observed. As she was about to answer, she was interrupted by Aaron. "Oh, God, _please_ don't tell me you're just gonna go back to your usual ways after all this?"

Helga and Arnold blinked a couple of times at the question, before then they just turned to smile at each other. "Hey, some things will _never_ change. Ain't that right, football head?" Helga asked teasingly. Arnold smiled back at her. "Yeah… some things _won't_ change."

"Man, I can practically smell the pheromones in the air." Aaron said and started to fan his hand mockingly close to his face. Arnold and Helga rolled their eyes, but their smiles never left their faces as they did so.

"Well, I should probably also go get the rest of the gang. We _did_ sorta kick them out earlier." Helga answered and got out of the bed this time. "You kicked them out?" Miles asked with his eyebrows lifted. "Gerald and Phoebe were the ones to kick them out technically." Arnold explained. "They sorta… walked in at a bad time."

"_Bad time_ being an understatement." Helga muttered as she straightened her clothes a little bit. Aaron looked back and forth between them for a bit. "Oh, God, don't tell me they literally caught you with your pants down?" he asked.

"Aaron!" Miles and Stella chastised, though the thought _had_ honestly occurred to them for a second as well. "G-Get your mind of the gutter, you idiot! We're at a _hospital_!" Helga shouted as her heart beat at the pace of 100 miles per hour. "As if that would be all that less private than a _rooftop_." Aaron pointed out as he crossed his arms.

Helga blinked a couple of times and then turned to frown at Arnold, who turned his head around to look at her at the same time. "I-I didn't tell him anything!" he shrieked and waved his hands in panic. "Rooftop? What rooftop?" Miles asked in wonder and looked at Aaron. "Never mind!" both Helga and Arnold yelled in a frenzy.

"I-I'm going!" Helga announced and started walking away from the bed. "No, wait, Helga!" Arnold begged. "Don't worry, football head," she said and waved dismissively at him. "I'm just going out to get the others. They probably wanna see you too, you know?"

As Helga was about to past Aaron, she stopped and pointed warningly at him. "And _you_ shut your trap!" she said and turned to take the door handle. She stopped short in the doorframe though. "You know what? I don't trust you." she declared, and then turned around to grab his collar. "You're coming with me."

"Oh, come on, I was just teasing my favorite Hillwood couple!" Aaron said childishly, as Helga pulled him out of the room. Their continuous banter could be heard as they walked through hallway, which caused Arnold to cock his head to the side a bit. _How could I have been this blind? Aaron may have feelings for Helga, but I don't think it's the way he thinks he does… They almost looked like siblings for a moment. If Olga and Helga had a good relationship, I think this is what their relationship would be like._

Arnold couldn't help but smile at the thought. It would be good for Helga to get along with Aaron like this; she needed more people in her life, she could trust. It'd definitely be better than her starting to have a grudge against him. He frowned a little though, as he himself still hadn't forgiven Aaron for blackmailing Helga about… whatever that secret had been. _I seriously have to ask her about that. Maybe she'd be willing to tell me now._

It wasn't until then that Arnold noticed the _very_ amused smiles on his parents' faces. He leaned back a little bit, as if trying to protect himself from whatever questions they'd throw at him. "Ok, bring it on. Ask me."

"What was that about a kiss at the baseball game?" Stella asked happily. "And why exactly _did_ you two fall asleep like that?" Miles asked, equally happily. "Did you finally tell her about your feelings? And did she do the same?" Stella asked, still very happily. Then Miles face showed death. "And where does that brat Jake live?"

"Uh… Helga kissed me out of happiness when we won; I kissed her back out of happiness that she had kissed me to begin with. We were talking on the bed, but we were both really tired after the game and she had been really worried about me. Yeah, we sorta actually yelled them at each other; that's why the gang's timing had been awful. And I haven't got a clue." Arnold replied to all of his parents' questions.

Miles growled at Arnold's last answer. "I'm still gonna have that brat arrested. To throw a baseball at _my_ son!" he said angrily. "And just when I had been about to tell Helga that I love her too…" Arnold added in a mutter. Stella's eyes went wide. "You love her?"

Arnold blushed a little; his parents weren't supposed to have heard that, but he nodded nevertheless. "Oh, my boy is all grown up!" Stella shrieked happily and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "I could've told the both of you that Arnold loves Helga." Miles simply said with an amused shook on his head.

"What?!" Miles' son and wife yelled in unison. He simply smiled at them and went to stand next to his wife. "When a Shortman falls in love, then it's forever." He answered and laid his arm over Stella's shoulders. She sighed happily and kissed his cheek.

Arnold couldn't help but smile at the sight. _I wonder if that'll be me and Helga someday…_ He thought with a big smile appearing on his face. Stella and Miles turned to glance at their son as his eyes closed and he had obviously gone into his personal wonderland probably with Helga joining him in his mind.

"Oh, shut up, would ya'?!" Helga's voice boomed from outside the hallway. Arnold's eyes opened instantly as he heard a different voice, than the one he had just imagined, come out of Helga. Stella and Miles also blinked a couple of times, as they watched the door, waiting for it to open.

"Stop with the interrogation already! At least let me have Arnold next to me for backup, would you?!" Helga kept shouting and, finally, the door opened. "But, Helga, you gotta understand our curiosity!" Harold said in a whimpering voice. "Ugh!" she groaned and turned to look at Arnold. "Help me!"

"All right, you guys, we can answer your questions, but be polite about it." Arnold said with a smirk and shifted a little on the bed to sit up properly. Helga rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Not what I meant, but whatever." She started stomping a little over to him. "Fine." she said and plumped onto the bed. "Fire away."

"When did this happen?"

"Have you been secretly dating or something?"

"What's Aaron's role in all of this?"

"I thought you guys still hated each other's guts!"

"Was that even your first kiss?"

"But if not, then why did you look so surprised?"

"Shut up! One at a time, you buffoons!" Helga shouted to calm the gang down. "Try to also remember that Arnold had a baseball knocked into that football head of his. He's got a splitting headache. Would you mind being a little quiet?"

Arnold turned to glance at Helga, as he slowly started to smile in slight wonder. She glanced at him in the corner of her eye. "What are you smiling about?" she asked before she turned her whole head around to look at him. "You know what I'm smiling about." he answered with a smirk, which just earned him a gentle push at his shoulder by hers.

"This is so weird!" Sid declared in frustration. "You guys are just so oddly friendly all of a sudden." Stinky said as he scratched his head in confusion. "Well, we all knew you didn't hate each other as much as you once did, but… this is like watching a cat and a mouse in love and all."

"I'm hopefully the cat?" Helga asked with an eyebrow quirked. "Why, of course, Miss Helga." Stinky answered with a smile and a nod. "You really care about that _now_?" Arnold asked as he cocked an eyebrow. "Hey, _someone_'s gotta remind you who's still the boss around here." She answered with a shrug, which just made him shake his head in amusement. "Whatever you say, Helga."

"Mind answering our questions?" Rhonda inquired as she put her hands on her hips. "Oh, right, what were they again?" Helga asked, and noticed how everyone was about to answer. "One at a time! Uh, Harold, you go first."

Harold gave a sly smirk, obviously happy about being the first one to ask his question. "I just wanna know when you guys started dating?" he asked as he crossed his arms. Arnold and Helga turned around to look at each other.

"Um… how long would you say, football head?" Helga asked. Arnold looked pensive. "What time is it?" he asked the group in front of him. "Around 7pm I'd say." Curly answered. "And when did you guys get here?" Helga asked. "6:30 maybe?" Nadine suggested with a shrug. Arnold and Helga then smiled at each other, before they answered in unison. "A half hour."

It took everyone in the room a couple of seconds, before their jaws dropped to the floor. "What?!" they all shouted in shock, except for Gerald, Phoebe, Stella, Miles and Aaron of course. Helga couldn't help but laugh at the shocked expressions on everyone's faces. "My God, I'd wish I had a camera right now!" she declared as she held her stomach.

"B-But you guys have been acting really weird for a _long_ time!" Sheena pointed out, which they all nodded to in agreement. "How much is a long time?" Arnold asked, though he had a feeling about what the answer would be. "Well, ever since…" Curly was about to say, until they all turned to glance at Aaron. He frowned at their stares. "Hey, I've got _nothing_ to do with it."

Helga couldn't help but snort, which Arnold chuckled at. They concealed their laughter instantly though, since they truly weren't interested in being questioned about Aaron's role in all of this. "Yeah, what part do you play in all of this?" Curly asked with a skeptical look.

"Uh, I-I think we're all forgetting what we actually came here for." Phoebe pointed out sweetly, gaining the attention from anyone in the room. "W-We're all ever so curious about Helga and Arnold's new relationship, right? What does Aaron have to do with that?" Lila asked to help Phoebe.

Arnold and Helga couldn't help but smile at each other. _Thanks, girls…_ Helga thought, knowing that they changed the subject because of the former blackmailing. "Yeah! Who cares about Aaron?" Gerald asked, somewhat catching onto why at least Arnold wouldn't want Aaron in the conversation. "I'd also rather know when all this…" Rhonda said and gestured around the two blondes. "well, started?"

Helga frowned a little. "What do you mean 'started', princess?" she asked. "Like, I know you _just_ started dating, but you've been flirting a little here and there, and then there was the whole slap thing and the locker thing. I mean, were you guys seriously not dating before this?" Rhonda asked.

Both Arnold and Helga blushed at the mentioning of the locker incident. "Uh… th-that was honestly all innocent. Uh… I had to wear that skirt, because my mom suddenly went all, well, motherly and decided to wash all of my fucking clothes, so I wore one of…" Helga started to explain, but then she noticed Aaron frowning at her.

Helga rolled her eyes. "You know what? Fuck it! I liked the skirt and I wanted to try something new, but then every single fucking male in the whole school started to hit on, whistle or even cat call at me! So, yeah, I went to hide, when the football head got in the way and that's… how we ended up in the locker." She finished compulsively.

"That's it? Oh, I had hoped for something juicier." Rhonda said with a small pout. "But what about the slap?" Nadine asked. "Yeah, what was that?" Sheena inquired. Helga and Arnold frowned a little at that question, and then turned to look at each other. "Wait… why _did_ you do that?" Arnold asked. "You never really told me."

"And why did _you_ do what you did before I even slapped you?" Helga asked with a similar frown. "Well, I thought, _hoped_, that you were jealous of whoever had written… that… poem…" Arnold's voice had slowly turned into a whisper, as the truth suddenly dawned on him and he started to whisper at her. "That _was_ your poem!"

"Yes, it was mine, you moron! Didn't you know that?!"

"No! If I had known, then I would have continued to love it!"

"You didn't love it enough to _not_ throw it out!"

"That was because you convinced me it was someone else who wrote that to me, besides you! If it wasn't you who wrote it, then why would I care about it?!" Arnold asked angrily, forgetting that there were any other people in the room.

Helga's eyes went wide at those words. "You mean… you were hoping it was from me and I kinda…" she stopped talking, but that didn't stop Arnold from finished her question. "_You_ kinda convinced me that it wasn't, and so I threw it out. Stupid! Why would you talk so badly about something _you_ made?"

"I panicked, ok! It's what I do. I panicked back when you found that little, pink book too!"

"But… that was different! Why would you, deliberately, put that note in my locker, and then freak out later?"

"I didn't _want_ to give you that note! It wasn't my choice."

"How could it not have been…" Arnold said, but then frowned as he remembered something. "Wait… you mean… because of - - "

"Uh-huh!" Helga interrupted with a heavy nod. Arnold's confused face slowly turned into a frown, which then turned into a scowl. "Why would he make you do that?" he asked in a whisper. "I don't know; ask _him_ that!" she answered with a small frown.

"Uh, guys?" Gerald inquired with a slightly annoyed face. Arnold and Helga turned to look at him. "Could you either update us about what the hell you're talking about, or have your fight later maybe?"

"We're not fighting." Arnold and Helga answered in unison and looked slightly annoyed at each other. "You guys are gonna be one of those couple, who quarrel all the time, and yet finish each other's sentences or something like that, aren't ya?" Stinky asked with a laugh, earning a few laughs from his peers.

Arnold and Helga blushed a little at the thought, both thinking that it was probably true. "Yeah, some things won't change… but, uh… the big difference here is that I'm not even mad at him, even if we did have a small discussion." Helga answered and shifted on the bed to look at the others again. "Me too." Arnold added with a smile, earning a smile from her too.

"Ugh, enough mushiness!" Sid declared, making the others laugh and some even nod in agreement. "Yeah, it's making me sick! Ya' know what? Forget it! I'll see you guys tomorrow. Good to see you're ok, Arnold." Harold said and followed Sid as they were on their way out. "Yeah, I'll have to agree. It's a little late and we have school tomorrow. See you, lovebirds." Curly said as with a playful laugh following.

"Oh, no, you won't." Helga declared with a stony face. They all looked at her in confusion. "Arnold is not going _anywhere_. The nurse said something about a small concussion. He's staying home from school tomorrow." She explained.

"Oh, Helga…" Arnold said with a childish voice. "Heck no! I don't want to risk your small concussion turning into a big one. Besides, you have good grades; you can afford to miss _one_ day." Helga answered and stood up from the bed.

"Helga, I feel fine! It's not even an actual concussion. It's just a bit of a headache." Arnold said, hoping for Helga to let him go to school, since… well, he wanted to experience that first day after starting to date her. He couldn't wait until Monday to do that!

"Oh, you feel fine, huh?" Helga asked with a smug smile and leaned forward a little. She then lifted her hand to the back of Arnold's head and flicked her middle finger against the bump on it. "Ow!" he exclaimed and his hand went involuntarily to the area and started rubbing on it.

"_I_ _feel fine_, my ass." Helga mocked and rolled her eyes, before she went towards his parents. "Make sure he stays home, please?" she begged. "Got it, Helga." They answered in unison with big smiles on their faces. It was, after all, not often, anyone saw the more worried and caring side of her.

"Oh, come on!" Arnold whined while his peers laughed at the scene going on in front of them. Helga lifted an accusing finger. "Don't make me come over there." She said warningly. He pouted a little as he leaned back on his pillow. "Yes, ma'am." He answered cockily.

Helga was satisfied though; no way in _hell_ would she let Arnold go to school in that condition, and the best part was, that she knew if it had been _her_ with the concussion… then he would have said the same thing to her. The mere thought made her feel like bouncing on the inside.

"Ok, now we _seriously_ have to get out!" Nadine said teasingly as she started pushing at Sid and Harold, who was still standing in the doorframe. "Yeah!" Rhonda agreed and started pushing herself, as she grabbed Lila's hand. "All this sweetness will give me cavities!"

Lila giggled at the comment, which Helga just rolled her eyes at though. "I think it's just ever so adorable, Rhonda, but I will leave now too. See you on Monday, Arnold. See you tomorrow, Helga, Aaron." Lila answered and followed some of the peers out of the room. "I'll text you later, Arnold." Gerald said with a wink and followed the rest of the peers. "I hope you'll feel better soon. See you tomorrow, Helga." Phoebe said, as she was the last one to leave.

"See you, football head." Helga said and waved a bit as she walked out and closed the door behind her. Arnold frowned a little. _Well… I guess since my parents and even Aaron are here, then the goodbye is bound to be a little less - -_

"Oh, almost forgot." Helga suddenly said, as she opened the door again. Arnold looked at her in confusion as she strode her way over to him. She bend down in front of him, just mere inches from his face, which caused him to blush a little. "Feel better soon." She whispered lovingly and laid her lips touch his forehead gently. It was the kiss she had been about to give him before his parents and Aaron had walked in and disturbed them, he knew that, and somehow… that just made it all better.

When Helga removed her lips, she started to giggle at the lovesick look on Arnold's face. He didn't even look like there was a brain inside that wide skull of his anymore. "I'll… be leaving him in your hands now, ok?" she said to his family, trying to conceal that giggle on her lips and then bounced a little as she seriously walked out of the room this time.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Aaron turned to face Arnold. He lifted his arm high above his head, and then pulled it down quickly, as he made a windy sound with his mouth. Arnold rolled his eyes. "I don't mind being whipped if it's by her." He answered to Aaron's taunt and leaned back against the pillow again with a happy sigh.

"That _also_ reminds me of someone." Stella whispered into Miles' ear and kissed him gently at the flesh just in front of it. He sighed happily, almost sounding exactly like Arnold and pulled her a little closer into his grasp.

* * *

Helga walked at a rather normal pace through the hallway. She smiled with content, trying to hide that obvious toothy smile which threatened to appear on her face. As soon as she got outside, she simply stopped and enjoyed the breeze taking ahold of her hair and clothes.

"_I'm in love with you_!"

When Arnold's words went through Helga's head again, she giggled loudly and jumped up into the air. "I did it! I really did it! Arnold's in love with me! He really is!" she kept shrieking as she bounced, feeling as if she was walking on a pink cloud. "Oh, God, I'm gonna be writing poems all night, aren't I?"

"Helga!"

"Huh?" she muttered in confusion and turned around to look at the voice, as she stopped her jumping. In the slight darkness, she could recognize her dad's car and her mom sticking her head out of the window. "Miriam? Bob? What are you doing here?"

"Helga!" Miriam simply called again with worry in her voice, as the car stopped. "We've been so worried, girl!" Bob said as he got out of the car. "Huh?" Helga muttered again and almost backed away in fear, when Miriam also got out of the car and the both of them wrapped their arms around her. "What are you talking about?"

"Are you all right, sweetheart? Come on, let me see you." Miriam inquired and started to roam her hand around Helga's face as if she was looking for something. "M-Miriam, what are… Stop that!" she ordered and threw herself away from them. "What's wrong with you two?"

Miriam and Bob kept looking at Helga with something resembling fear. "S-Some boy came to our house and told us that you had been at a baseball  
game and was now on your way to the hospital!" Bob explained as he went to grab her shoulder again.

"What?!" Helga shrieked in surprise. "Yes, sweety. We've been worried sick ever since we got that call! Are you all right? What happened to you?" Miriam asked as she was about to start checking her daughter for any sorts of scars again.

"Stop touching me!" Helga ordered angrily and jumped back yet again, this time hitting her back against a pole. "Ow!" she exclaimed, as she felt the pain from having been leaning against the armrest earlier. _I guess leaning against it like that did leave a small bruise or something._ She thought as she tried to shake the pain off.

"Oh, dear… she won't even let us touch her." Miriam said with a faintly sobbing sound. "It's our own fault, Miriam." Bob answered with a frown. Helga frowned too, but not in the same way. "Ok, that's it. Time for some explaining to do. What in the world is up with you two?"

"Please, girl, can we…" Bob started to speak and then dared to take a couple of steps closer to Helga. She frowned a little, and was even about to shake his hand off when he laid it gently against her shoulder. "Can we please just go home? Your mom and I want to talk about something."

Helga kept frowning and turned to look at her mother, who simply nodded with hope. "Uh… sure. I was going home anyway." She answered, stepped to the side to get out of the odd, friendly grasp of her father's hand and went towards the car. She could hear her parents sigh happily behind her, which somehow gave her goose bumps.

"Oh, let me get that, sweety." Miriam said, as she ran up next to Helga and opened the car door for her. Helga almost fainted at this point. Her mom… opened the door for her? Why? She hadn't even done that when she was a child! "Ok, you guys are seriously starting to freak me out." She muttered as she climbed inside.

"We'll explain everything when we get home." Miriam said gently before she closed the door. "Yeah, you'd better…" Helga muttered, as she pulled on her seatbelt. _What in the world is going on with my parents? I've never seen them so worried before… Are other things about to change too?_

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: Don't know what to say, except… uh, bet you didn't see that last part coming? xD**


	39. This's for all the things you did for me

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**Since Arnold and Helga fell asleep together on the bed in the hospital, it gave his parents and cousin a chance to talk a little about what else had happened at that baseball game. Stella couldn't ignore the temptation to take a picture of the sleeping teens though, before they had to wake them up.**_

_**To Helga's terror, Aaron seemed to – even if the blackmailing was over – still want to tease her about certain things. There was something odd in their relationship now, when Arnold and Helga had seriously started dating. His teasing almost seemed… brotherly?**_

_**Helga and Arnold were forced to answer a couple of questions from the gang, which they obviously had been curious about ever since… well, Aaron had arrived. They swiftly avoided the Aaron topic though, but managed to answer a few things.**_

_**At this moment, Helga also ordered Arnold to stay home from school, which meant he wouldn't get to experience the first school day after they had started dating with her, which he couldn't help but pout at. A kiss on the forehead from her, made the frown go upside-down though.**_

_**As Helga was on her way home, she ran into a pair of really panicky parents. Not a surprise – it was after all a hospital right behind her – but it was her own parents. They kept asking odd questions, until she finally just got into the car and drove off with them, all the while wondering if things were about to change.**_

**Author's 1st note: Yay! There's been another cover art from my story by Electric-Amethyst on DeviantArt! You can go to my DeviantArt faves and find it easily, or go directly to her account and see it! :D**

**Oh, and just so you know: I changed the last bit of the chapter a little. Basically, it's not a client who went to tell Big Bob about the baseball game. It was a boy :P**

* * *

Chapter 39: "This is for all the things you did _for_ me"

"I can't believe it. Helga's acting weird _again_. Wasn't she all bouncy only yesterday? As bouncy as Helga can be?" Rhonda asked aloud with slight worry in her voice, though she tried to hide it behind sarcasm. It was Friday, first recess and everyone had already noticed Helga's odd behavior, or rather the oddly pensive facial expression on her.

Helga was currently sitting on the ground in the schoolyard, back leaned up against the wall behind her and her knees pulled all the way up to her chest. She didn't look sad, nor did she look mad, she looked… pensive. Just… pensive. _Really_ pensive.

"Ok, Helga, what's going on?" a male voice asked. Helga could feel something brush against her shoulder, when the person sat down next to her. She didn't need to turn around to face him to know that it was Aaron.

Helga sighed. "Uh… I honestly can't tell you." she answered. "… Helga, I know the blackmailing is over – obviously – but… if I can help, I want to, ok?" Aaron inquired gently. She turned to smile a little at him, but that pensive look never left her face doing so. "Y-Yeah, I know, thanks, but… it's not really something you can help with, I… think."

Helga couldn't help but notice the odd facial expression on Aaron's face all of a sudden. "Uh… l-let me see. Based on what I know about you – and I know a lot – then I'm guess it's got something to do with your parents?" he wondered aloud.

Helga frowned at that. "How in the holy hell did you know that?" she asked, but then her frown turned pensive again. "Wait… my parents _did_ mention a young, African boy last night." She pointed out and crossed her arms accusingly. "I'm not all African." He answered with a slight frown. "My dad can't tell the difference, and _you_ just admitted to have something to do with it." She answered with a gleeful smirk. "Spit it out."

Aaron simply shrugged though. "I don't know what you're talking about. On my way to the boarding house, I went past your house and… figured that your parents deserved to know that you were at the hospital." He answered.

Helga cocked an eyebrow at that reply. "You simply told them their daughter was at the hospital? Nothing else?" she asked skeptically. "Hey, I just said you were at the hospital, not _why_ you were at the hospital. It's not my fault if they misunderstood, right?" he asked with a very faint smile.

"Wait… so it's _your_ fault they're acting all clingy now?" Helga asked with a slight frown. "Clingy?" Aaron repeated. "Yeah!" she answered in a loud voice. "They keep asking me how I'm feeling, if I _really_ wanted to go to school today, and… look!"

Helga went into her bag and pulled out a pink box, which resembled a lunch box. "My mom _actually_ made lunch for me." She said as she frowned at it. "I haven't dared opening it yet. I'm sure there's a mouse or a rat in there somewhere."

"Oh, come on, at least… your mom's trying, right?" Aaron asked as he eyed the pink box a little. He looked just as nervous as Helga did about what kind of food she may have gotten from her drunken mother. She turned to look at him. "Are you _sure_ you didn't suggest that _I_ was the one at the hospital rather than Arnold?"

"Hey, I was in a hurry, ok?" Aaron answered, which made Helga smile in disbelief. "_I_ had to go tell everyone at the boarding house that Arnold was at the hospital, so it wasn't like I could stick around to tell them every single detail."

"You… cunning… something." Helga said with an impressed smile. "The pot calling the kettle black." Aaron answered with a smile, earning an elbow from her. "I can't believe you'd trick my parents like that. Now, look what's happened! They actually care all of a sudden." She said and shivered mockingly.

"Is that a bad thing?" Aaron asked which caused Helga to eye him a little accusingly. "Wait… did you… do this to help me?" she asked. He lifted his eyebrows at her, and they kept looking at each other like that for a couple of seconds, as they had a silent conversation. "_Hey_," he then said with a frown. "I would've been happy with whatever outcome there had been from what I did. Them messing everything up a little or them finally realizing how much you mean to them. It just ended up with the latter; I didn't have any control of that."

"… Liar. You _did_ do it to help me." Helga said, completely convinced that she was right. She knew Aaron's faces by now, she knew when he lied and when he was speaking the truth at this point. He sighed and shook his head in amusement. "I can't control _why_ you think I did it."

Helga couldn't help but start smiling at Aaron. "Thank you." she said in a low voice. He had expected his heart to start beating at those simple words, but… it didn't. Rather than that, he just felt really warm at her sudden gratitude, which he simply casually shrugged at. "I didn't do anything for you, but you're welcome."

Helga snickered a little at Aaron's defensive words. _We really do resemble each other… in some ways._ "What, are you trying to redeem yourself or something?" she asked as she quirked an eyebrow. "Redeem? Heck no, I don't need redemption." He answered, which made her frown a little at him. "Ok, about the poem, _maybe_, but I don't regret anything else."

"You're kidding!" Helga said with an amused, yet disbelieving smile. "What about the phony aphrodisiac?"

"Hey, it wasn't my fault you were so easy to trick. Besides, you did get a lot of good things out of it, didn't you? Arnold became your accomplice and you realized the gang actually cares about you."

"Well, yeah, but… what about the skirt thing?"

"Hey, you liked it even if you didn't wanna admit it, and by the end of the day, you felt more confident, didn't you?"

"Well… I _have_ been looking a little at my more girly pile of clothes ever since, but… hey, what about the parties?"

"You had fun at _both_ of the parties. Don't make me say what kind of fun."

"But… what about… uh… the karaoke thing! What was up with that?"

"_That_ was just in good old-fashioned fun, and again; you liked it too. You just needed a push."

"But… I… huh… I can't remember much else at this point."

"You did mention the bigger ones."

Helga sighed in relinquishment and just shook her head in amusement. "You've managed to mess my life up real good, you know?" she asked and then snorted. "Oh, come on, without me, you'd still be monologging about Arnold in secret." Aaron answered and then snorted too at the memory.

"You're such a dumbass!" Helga said and started flapping her hands at Aaron, which caused him to simply laugh at her as he tried to cover himself from her minor attack. None of them knew that there were a few people in schoolyard, who had started to wonder what in the world was going on between those two.

"Is it just me… or have I seen this before?" Phoebe wondered aloud and closed her eyes to try to imagine it. Gerald shrugged, though he felt something familiar about it too. "Oh, I got it!" Phoebe declared and pointed at Gerald. "It's like watching you and Jamie O!"

"Huh?! How in the world is that anything like - - " Gerald said and turned around to look at Helga and Aaron, who was somewhat wrestling a little at this point. He cocked his head to the side. "Huh… m-maybe you're right… but Aaron's in love with her, isn't he?" he asked, which she shrugged at. "Who knows? Maybe he did genuinely have such feelings for her and they have changed, or maybe he misunderstood his own feelings? It can be both things. No matter what, then those two have something close to a sibling relationship now, or at least something resembling it."

Gerald and Phoebe kept gazing at the somewhat odd image… though there was also something that made sense about it. "Helga's really lucky all of a sudden." Gerald muttered as he crossed his arms with a smile. "She deserves that." Phoebe answered with a happy smile. "She really deserves a little good fortune."

* * *

Almost as soon as the next period was over, Helga's cell started ringing. She looked down in her pocket in disbelief, before she finally reached her hand down to look at it. _I swear, if it's my parents calling to make sure I didn't fall down a cliff, I'll - - Arnold!_ She almost shouted his name out loud, but managed to answer the call casually. "Uh, h-hi, football head." She stuttered. Well, _almost _casually.

"Hi, Helga! How, uh, how's school?" Arnold asked on the other side of the line. _Huh, I guess he feels a little awkward too… That's normal, I guess._ Helga thought as she started feeling a little less nervous knowing that she wasn't alone about it. "It's _school_, football head."

"All right, fair enough, then… how are you doing?"

"… Ok, that's it, what's going on, Arnoldo?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're _obviously_ fishing for something, but I can't answer whatever it is you want to know, unless you just ask me, and… all things considered, then you _can_ just ask me, ok? I'm… not gonna bite your head off, I promise."

"Promise you won't be mad?"

"… Sure."

"Helga!"

"All right, all right, I promise! Sheesh."

"I… heard a little bird singing about how you were acting a little weird."

"… Is that little bird your cousin?"

"How…" Arnold said in surprise, but then sighed in relinquishment. "How did you know?"

"Because I know Aaron by now; he can't keep his mouth shut, unless he's gaining something from it. Ugh…"

"Are you mad?"

"No. Not at you at least."

"Well, I'm happy about that, but… what's going on Helga? He texted me an hour ago and I've just been sitting and waiting for lunch period to start, so I could ask you about it. Is that ok?"

"Arnold, don't walk on eggshells around me anymore, ok? Things are… different now."

"Even if some things aren't?" Arnold asked in amusement, which made Helga giggle. "Yeah, not all things have to change, but this part will. But, uh… could I tell you about it in person instead? Honestly, _I_'m even still trying to wrap my head around what's going on at the moment."

"You sure you're ok?"

"I'm fine, you worrywart! It's not like I've caught some deadly disease or anything." Helga answered, and expected an answer from Arnold at that, but he just went quiet. "I don't have a disease, football head!"

"I-I know. It's just… the thought scared me for a second." Arnold answered, and Helga could easily imagine him blushing as much as she did at his words. "Oh… uh, d-don't worry. I'm healthy. I swear. Anything like back at the nurse won't ever happen again."

"You promise?"

"Yes, I do! Sheesh." Helga answered with a giggle and felt like angles were singing in her ears as she heard Arnold chuckle. "Hey, Helga, will you be joining us for lunch?" Lila asked with Phoebe, Rhonda, Nadine and Sheena standing next to her. "Oh, yeah, sure. H-Hold on." Helga answered and was about to talk into her cell phone again.

"Wait! Are you talking with Arnold?" Phoebe asked happily. "Uh…" Helga muttered, feeling more than a little embarrassed about having her friends know that. "Say hello to lover boy from us." Rhonda said teasingly and started giggling with the girls.

"L-Look, Arnold, I seriously need to go before the girls start some sort of riot just because we're talking on the phone together, ok?" Helga said pleadingly in the phone. "Oh, sure… c-can I call you after school?" Arnold asked with hope in his voice.

Helga's eyes went a little wide in shyness. "U-Uh, sure… whoa, I guess you're _really_ bored at home, huh?" she asked aloud, hoping for the girls not to make this moment anymore embarrassing. "Well, there's that… and I just like hearing your voice." Arnold answered with a shy chuckle following.

Helga's whole face went rosy at that statement. "What did he say?!" Nadine asked curiously. "N-Nothing!" Helga answered and tried to push the girls away from her. "Then why are you blushing like that?" Sheena asked teasingly and tried grabbing the phone. "I'm not blushing!" Helga screamed next to her phone, causing Arnold to cringe a little.

_I guess the other girls are standing right next to her…_ Arnold thought a little embarrassed, but not enough to hang up. "Hear what you just started, Arnold?! Now the girls are gonna tease me all day! Y-You're really amazing, you know that?!" Helga answered at the other side of the phone in something resembling both sarcasm and honesty.

"Well, I gotta match you in _some_ ways, right?" Arnold answered teasingly and couldn't help but chuckle at the almost choky sound which came out of Helga when he said that. "Did he just say what I think he said?!" one of the girls shouted near Helga shrieked, though he couldn't hear who it was. "Sh-Shut up! T-Talk to you later, f-football head!" Helga said as gently as she could, but it was obvious that she was struggling against the other girls.

"Yeah, talk to you later, Helga. Bye." Arnold answered and hung up. _I feel a little bad for her… and I'm probably gonna be treated the same way by the boys on Monday. Maybe this whole staying at home today wasn't such a bad thing after all._ He thought as he jumped out of the bed; there was no way he could sleep anymore today anyway.

As Arnold went out of his room and down the stairs, he noticed his mom talking to someone. "That's a great idea! Oh, I'm sure Arnold be really thankful for that." she said, but there was no answer. _Is she on the phone?_ He wondered as he continued his way down, but slowly, since he was a little curious about the conversation.

"Yes, I'll tell him right away, so he can call Helga immediately." Stella answered, Arnold finally able to see that she was indeed on the phone with someone. _What's this about me and Helga?_ He wondered and then his curiosity finally got the better of him. "Mom? What are you talking about?"

"Oh, hi, Arnold! Yeah, he just got down. I'll tell him about the plans, ok?" Stella asked, but then frowned a bit. "Oh, are you sure?" she asked. Arnold frowned as his mom started to nod, though the person she was speaking with couldn't exactly see her. "Well, all right then, that's your choice. Sure, I can just say that. Bye."

Then Stella hung up on the phone and turned to look at Arnold with a big smile. "Come with me into the living room, honey." She requested and went on her way herself. Arnold blinked in confusion, but did as asked. "What's going on?" he asked as he sat down on the sofa, as his mom sat in the chair.

"Well, since Aaron will be leaving us tomorrow, Miles and I figured we should take him out to dinner with Phil and Gertie too, of course." Stella explained happily. "Oh… uh, sure, I guess I…" Arnold muttered, but didn't exactly feel like going out tonight. "But, of course, you don't have to come along, all things considered." She continued.

Arnold was a little surprised at that. Stella usually didn't want him to do rude things, even if he was a little under the weather. To be completely honest, it was the going out thing he wasn't fond of. If it had just been inside the house, it was no problem. He just had a minor headache and was a little dizzy, but it wasn't like he was incapable of doing anything.

"But… shouldn't I go too? I mean… Aaron _has_ been sleeping on my couch all month, and been going to my school and he's my cousin. Shouldn't I go along too?" Arnold asked out of kindness mostly. "Arnold, are you nervous about being alone?" Stella asked. "Huh?" he muttered with an eyebrow quirked.

"Well, because if that's the case, then you can always ask someone to come over? Besides, we're going to that restaurant at the other of town. You know, the one where you got food poisoning?" Stella asked, which made Arnold cringe on the inside. That hadn't been a fun night. He wasn't even sure what he had ordered. "Well, I really don't wanna go there…" he answered.

"See? Therefore, you could just ask a friend to come over. You'll be having the boarding house almost all to yourself until tomorrow morning too." Stella explained. "Huh? Why?" Arnold asked in confusion. "We're going to the other side of town, Arnold. We'll be late, so… we figured we'd probably just rent some rooms in a cheap hotel and go home tomorrow morning." She explained casually, though her shivering lips suggested she was trying to hold down laughter.

Arnold frowned a little at his mom's odd behavior. "Uh… ok, I guess. So I'll… see you tomorrow?" he asked, but didn't stand up or anything. He had a feeling that she wasn't done talking or that he had missed something. "Yes, you will. So, you'll be having the boarding house _all to yourself_ through the _whole night_." She answered, hoping for him to catch the suggestion.

Arnold's eyebrows just stayed furrowed. _The house all to myself? Well, I don't see much point in that, so why does she look like she's trying to tell me something?_ He thought, before he noticed Stella sighing. "Arnold, I don't want to worry about you being alone here, so could you please invite someone to stay over?"

"S-Sure, I guess I could ask Gerald to come over." Arnold answered, not really sure why his mom almost started to look angry at him. "My God, you're worse than your father…" she muttered, which he only heard few words of. "It's Friday, right? Don't you think that Gerald would rather spend his Friday evening with Phoebe? His _girlfriend_?"

"Uh… I guess?" Arnold wondered, still not really catching his mom's drift. "His _girlfriend_, Arnold. He'd rather be with his _girlfriend_." Stella repeated. "I get it!" he answered with a slight frown. "No, I don't think you do…" she muttered, her eyes showing nothing but frustration at this point. "So, _who_ would you like to invite, since Gerald's gonna be with his girlfriend?"

"Well, who else can I…" Arnold started, but then looked towards the floor in a pensive way. _All alone, all night with girlfriend…_ His eyes went wide and his cheeks reddened darkly. _Oh, finally!_ Stella thought with a small smile. "W-Well… one name _does_ come to mind." He answered as he started to scratch the back of his head.

"Good!" Stella said happily and stood up. "You go and invite her - - or, uh, him to come over tonight, ok? It's rather short notice, so the sooner you call, the better."

Arnold simply nodded, as he stood up and started walking like a zombie. Stella shook her head in amusement, before she pulled out her own cellphone and went to call her husband to tell him of her plans.

_A-All alone… all evening… all night… with…_ Arnold stopped in front of the phone, as he could feel himself choking on his breath. _Calm down… It's pretty innocent at this point, right? I-I don't have to ask her to stay over, j-just to come over for tonight, and then… th-th-then we'll just see what happens, right?_

Arnold took a deep breath, before he grabbed the phone in his hand. He put it up to his ear, and pushed the numbers for Helga's cell phone in and waited patiently. It took a little time before she answered. "Wh-Whoever this is, then it's really bad timing! Would you girls shut _up_ already?! It's not Arnold!"

"S-Sorry to disappoint you, Helga, but it _is_ me." Arnold answered with a slight chuckle. "Arnold?!" Helga shrieked on the other side, and he could hear the laughter of other girls around her. "W-Why aren't you calling from your cell phone?"

"Um, I'm not sure… I just went straight for the home phone, I guess. I-Is this a bad time?"

"Uh… c-could you give me two seconds, so I can get away from the hyenas?" Helga asked as she even tried to push Lila away from her physically. She could hear Arnold chuckle on the other side of the phone. "Sure, Helga, I'll hang on." He answered.

"Thanks." Helga said and laid her cell against her chest. "You guys must have been vultures in another life!" she yelled at the girls around her as she ran out of the cafeteria, leaving the laughing girls behind her. _Sheesh, I didn't know that everyone knowing I was capable of being in love would mean the girls would be all over me like this!_

Helga stopped when she was sure that no one was around in the hallway and then put her cell up to her ear again. "Arnold, you there?" she asked. "I told you I'd hang on, didn't I?" he answered with a chuckle.

"Yeah, yeah, just…" Helga muttered with a sigh. "Those girls are killing me… So, what's up? I thought you'd call _after_ school? Or, what, couldn't you wait to hear my voice again?" she asked sarcastically and gave a snort.

Arnold laughed on the other side. "Well, there's that… but I also wanted to a-ask you something." He answered with a slight stutter, which Helga took notice of instantly. "Oh… well, Arnold if it's about why I've been acting weird or whatever, then I promised I'd tell - - "

"I-It's not that." Arnold interrupted quickly, but felt himself choke on his breath again. "Oh… well then, what is it? Is something wrong?" Helga asked worriedly. "Oh, no, not exactly. Um… I-I was just wondering if you'd like to… to, uh…" he muttered, but then lost his courage again. _How can I still be nervous about this? We're dating, for heaven's sake! Just… say it_!

"Arnold, you're not making any sense." Helga said in her cell phone, still a little worriedly. "Uh… Oh, right! Helga! W-We technically have our first anniversary coming up, don't we?" Arnold asked, still with slight panic in his voice.

"Huh?" Helga muttered in surprise and felt her heart beat violently against her upper ribs. "An-Anniversary?"

"Yeah! I-In a couple of hours, we've been dating for about 24 hours, right?"

"You've been counting?!"

"And we still haven't seen each other! W-We haven't even been on a proper date! Th-That's not good enough; we need to change that!" Arnold finally said, as he felt the panic slowly fade away and the embarrassment taking over. _Oh, where am I even going with this?!_

Helga was in complete and utter shock. To hear Arnold's panicky rant end up with something as simple as wanting to ask her out… she couldn't help but start laughing. "O-Oh, my God, Arnold! You-You planning to give _me_ a heart attack this time?! Oh, God, you crack me up! A-All that ranting just to… to… Oh, God."

"S-Sorry… I think I know what one of your panic attacks feels like now." Arnold muttered as he started to scratch his neck in embarrassment. "_You know_, you could have just said you wanted to go on a date with me, right? However, I don't really mind you saying it like this… Anniversary, huh?" Helga said in a dreamy voice and then sighed happily. "I like the sound of that…"

Arnold smiled instantly. Ok, so his way of asking had been less than perfect… but Helga seemed to like even his clumsy side, so who cared about perfection at this point? "So, Arnold, what do you wanna do on our one day anniversary?" she asked teasingly, but he could hear the lovesickness in her voice.

"Well… I was wondering if you'd like to come over to the boarding house? Make dinner together and just… you know… h-hang out?" Arnold suggested as he tried collecting enough courage to mention the absence of almost everyone at this particular night.

"S-Sounds good, football head, but, uh… It's not like I mind making dinner, but would Gertie and Stella let us do that?"

"Oh! Uh…" Arnold muttered, smiling a little, since Helga had just given him the perfect segue to mentioning them being alone. "They won't be here… actually."

Helga blinked a couple of times in silence. "Oh… uh… where… where will they be?" she asked, as she felt her heartbeat quicken. "Out… at some restaurant with… with my grandpa, dad and… A-Aaron too." Arnold answered, and then just waited for her to realize.

It took Helga a couple of seconds, before she managed to create any words in her mouth. "You mean… besides the other boarders… then you and I… will be a-alone?" she asked with what Arnold suspected was nervousness _and_ hopefulness. "Uh, yeah… is that… ok?" he asked gently. "I-If it's not then that's totally fine. We can meet up at some other - - "

"I'd love to come!" Helga interrupted, while she held a fist against her heart, as if she could somehow grab and make it stop beating so painfully hard against her chest. "Huh?!" Arnold exclaimed, feeling oddly surprised at how eager she suddenly seemed. "Y-You sure? You did catch on to the fact that we're gonna be _alone_, right?"

"I know… I know… and… yes… I want to come… U-Uh, I mean I-I wanna be there!" Helga quickly corrected, realizing the suggestive way she had just phrased her reply. _Way to go, brain!_ She exclaimed inside her head as she smacked her palm against her face. "O-Ok…" Arnold muttered, also having heard the slightly suggestive comment in a usually innocent answer. "S-So it's a date, right?"

"Y-Yeah! Wh-When do you want me to come - - b-be there?!"

"U-Uh, I-I don't know w-when the others will leave, s-so - - " Arnold answered, feeling completely embarrassed at this point. "Sweetheart! We'll leave at around 7pm, ok!" Stella yelled from outside the kitchen, having heard only bits pieces of her son and girlfriend's conversation. "O-Ok! Y-You heard that, Helga?" Arnold asked. "Yup! 7pm. I-I'll be there at 7pm then, ok? Then I can also say a quick hello, before we… b-before _they_ leave!" Helga answered, before she smacked her forehead against the wall as if trying to bang some sense into it.

"I-I'll see you tonight then?" Arnold asked. "Yeah… see you tonight." Helga answered in a tired voice, though she couldn't help but smile. "Yeah… tonight." She repeated in a more happy voice, followed by a content sigh. He couldn't help but smile at that himself. "Bye." He whispered. "Bye." She answered, before they both hung up.

Both blondes kept staring at their phones as the conversation ran through their minds once again. _It's gonna be tonight…_ They both thought at the same time and then started squealing happily. "Yes! He asked me to come over!" Helga yelled happily, as she bounced. "Yes! She said yes! She'll be here tonight!" Arnold yelled at the same time, also bouncing like a fool.

"Well, _someone_'s happy." Someone said to both Arnold and Helga at the same time, though it was obviously not the same person. "Mom!" Arnold said in a chastised way, but that still didn't wipe the smile off his face. Helga, on the other hand, was frowning at the person in front of her. "Yeah, I'm happy; what's it to ya?" she asked and crossed her arms.

Aaron copied Helga's motion and simply smirked at her. "Nothing but curiosity, I guess, but, meh, I don't really care all that much." He answered and walked past her. She stood still for a couple of seconds, wondering if she wanted to ask him about this or not. In the end, her curiosity won and she turned around to face him. "Aaron!"

Aaron turned around to glance at Helga over his shoulder. "Yeah?" he inquired. "Do you… know what's gonna happen tonight?" she asked as vaguely as she could. He cocked an eyebrow at the odd question. "Uh… no? What are you talking about?"

"Huh…" Helga simply muttered. _I guess they wanna surprise him then? But why are they leaving Arnold home alone? Well, not completely alone, I guess… Oh, who cares? I'm gonna have my first real date with Arnold tonight! And we're gonna… we're gonna… Oh, be still, my beating heart, hush my distempered breath!_

"Well, never mind then." Helga managed to say with a casual shrug, despite having her head completely wrapped in things, which would usually make her giggle in happiness. She had a lot of practice at hiding such feelings through the years though.

"Hey, no fair! You can't just say something like that and just walk off. What's going on?" Aaron asked with an amused smile as he walked behind Helga. "Nothing really! I'm just saying that your family might surprise you tonight, so get a clue and don't ask me more questions about it!" she answered him, hoping he'd rather want the surprise than to question her anymore.

"Oh, ok, I guess so." Aaron answered, but kept walking next to Helga. "I guess it must have something to do with me going back to New York tomorrow?"

Helga stopped short at those words. "Oh, right. A month has passed and you're going home…" she said thoughtfully. Aaron stopped in front of her as he wore a smirk. "What? You think you're gonna miss me or something?"

"I _highly_ doubt that…" Helga answered, though it wasn't seething with sarcasm, Aaron noticed. He blinked a little in surprise and leaned back. "Well, I'll sure miss _you_. You've been fun to be around, Helga. You sure made this stay memorable."

"Yeah, because I was your personal _blackmail toy_ through the whole damn thing." Helga answered with an amused smirk. Aaron chuckled as he shook his head. "Not completely. Well, yeah, that part _was_ fun, but also just getting to know you. You're… interesting… fascinating… one of a kind. I've never met anyone as twisted as me."

"Now, don't put yourself up on a pedestal, bucko, I am way more twisted than you." Helga answered with a confident smirk, which caused Aaron to laugh and her to laugh along with him. "… I… do have something I'd like to do before you leave though." she added and looked at him innocently.

Aaron's eyebrows furrowed a little at that. "Uh… ok? What, uh, what is it?" he asked. She shifted a little uncomfortably at her feet and then smiled slightly at him. "Close your eyes." she requested, which made his eyes pop open. "Uh…" he looked like he was about to question her intentions, but then he simply shook his head, as if saying no to himself, and then closed his eyes.

Aaron didn't know what to expect whatsoever. It was Helga after all; she could do just about anything to him right now. He promised himself though, that no matter what she did, he'd let her do it. Therefore, when he could hear the wind swish next to him, he simply stood still.

"Ow!" Aaron exclaimed and stumbled backwards. "_That_ was for _every fucking thing_ you did to me during this month!" Helga announced and let her fist uncurl. He lifted his hand to his nose and gave a disbelieving chuckle. "I can't believe you actually punched me on the nose…" he muttered, which she just cocked an eyebrow at, as he straightened his back. "I guess I deserved that."

"Yeah, you did." Helga answered and walked a couple of steps closer to Aaron. "I think you broke it." He pointed out with a chuckle, though the pain was actually really bad; as expected from Helga Pataki. "Oh, please. Let me see." She simply answered and grabbed his cheeks to turn him around to face her.

Aaron let his hand fall down, as Helga studied his nose. All things considered, then he still trusted her even after that punch. He knew that he had deserved that at some level; even if she didn't know all of the truth yet.

Helga lifted her hand and laid her thumb and index finger around Aaron's nose. "This will hurt." She warned. "Huh? What are - - Argh!" he exclaimed, when she twisted his nose to one side and then let go off him. "Ow! What was that for?" he asked as he rubbed his nose a bit. "Your nose was crooked; I actually helped you this time around." She explained and crossed her arms.

"Huh… Thanks, I guess." Aaron answered and tried to shake the pain off. He then noticed that Helga was smiling a little bit. "As I said; _that_ was for everything you did to me during this month." She said as she walked closer to him again. He leaned back a little this time, still remembering clearly, what she had done only moments ago. Her next words though, made his eyes open wide. "And _this_ is for all things you did _for_ me."

As soon as Helga had said those words, she stretched her ankles a little bit to reach Aaron and then laid her lips against the tip of his nose. He just… froze. Indeed, you could never expect _anything_ from Helga Pataki. When she leaned back again, she simply went past him, her blonde hair brushing against his bare arm and went through the hallway.

Aaron sighed a bit and then just shook his head in amusement. _I'm gonna miss that feeling of never knowing what to expect from that girl… Oh, well._ He thought in his head and went through the rest of the hallway as he eyed Helga walking away over his shoulder.

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**Author's 2nd note: Ok! Let me explain a little bit about the ending from this, before ANYONE goes crazy xD I was sitting here, thinking: "Hmm, some people hate Aaron and will love the punch, and some people love Aaron and will love the kiss… Now what?!" So, I decided to meet everyone halfway there: I did both things, obviously.**

**Also, that works the best for me and for how I imagine their relationship. Helga doesn't really love Aaron, because she also hates him. (Where with Arnold it's only love :P) She does consider him something between a friend, brother or enemy. A… bro frenemy? xD So, just wanted to explain that before anyone went all crazy, saying stuff like that: "Whoa! That punch was **_**so**_** not deserved!" or "Ew! Why would she kiss him?!"**

**We all have the right to our own opinions, as long as we remember that we don't always share them :P I didn't create Aaron for anyone to love, nor hate, I created him as something you could create your own opinion about. So, no one is incorrect for neither loving or hating him. End of story :P (Well, not **_**this**_** story, we still need a few chapters xD – plus an epilogue! :D)**


	40. It's gonna get messy

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**After having most of Helga's peers noticing her odd behavior, Aaron finally decided to come clean: He had been the one to tell her parents about her trip to the hospital, though he left out a few, minor details.**_

_**To Arnold's slight embarrassment, his mom had suggested to him – rather vaguely, at least to him – that he should invite Helga over to for the evening, and perhaps night as well, while the rest of the family would go to the other side of town, eat at a restaurant and stay away from the boarding house all night.**_

_**After having agreed to the date with Arnold, knowing full well what it would mean, she came across Aaron in the school hallway. Wishing to both punish and thank him, she started out with punching his nose and then kissing to both his happiness and confusion.**_

**Author's 1st note: Good morning! If you're reading this when I uploaded it, then good morning xD (Or very late goodnight, maybe? xP) I guess it also depends on where you're from… If you're American, then good morning! xD Here in Denmark it's around 1pm :P**

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Chapter 40: "It's gonna get messy"

"So, when is Helga coming over?" Aaron asked with a sly smirk, as he tied a bow around his neck. Arnold was currently pulling a dark blue shirt over his arms. "7pm. When you guys leave." He answered briefly and started buttoning the shirt. "So…" Aaron muttered and looked towards the clock. "You've got about a ten minutes to change your shirt a couple more times."

"No, I _won't_ change it again. I'm going with the dark blue one."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Why? What's wrong with it?" Arnold asked with slight panic in his voice. Aaron started snickering. "Nothing! I just like seeing you so panicky about something so trivial." He answered and adjusted his bow a little bit as the final touch. Arnold sighed and looked at himself in the mirror. It was the fifth shirt he had tried at this point, and he _still_ wasn't satisfied. "M-Maybe I _should_ change…"

"Stay in the dark blue one. Blue suits you." Aaron answered and shoved his hands into his pockets. "It does?" Arnold asked, though he sorta knew that; he _had_ been wearing blue a lot through the years. "Yeah, besides… you could be wearing a bag over your whole body, and Helga would _still_ love you, so relax already!" Aaron answered with a slightly annoyed frown and shook his head in disbelief.

"I can't help it! I-It's my first date with Helga and I… I just want it to be perfect." Arnold explained with a small frown, since he was still really nervous about this evening. "Arnold, Helga doesn't want perfect; she wants _you_." Aaron answered, which made Arnold frown a little at him. "You know what I mean!" Aaron answered, causing Arnold to sigh again as he sat down on the bed.

"Arnold, listen… like you, then Helga's been waiting for this moment forever. Now, do _you_ care about what she wears tonight?" Aaron asked. Arnold thought for a second, but then shook his head. "No… not at all." He answered and then started smiling. "She could be wearing a bag over her whole body, and she'd still look great."

"See? And Helga feels the same way about you. She's right; you _are_ a worrywart." Aaron declared with a smile and sat down on the couch to put his shoes on. "Yeah, I know, but… it's not just about looks; I'm not that superficial." Arnold answered with a small sigh. "Then what is it?" Aaron asked and put on his left shoe.

Arnold opened his mouth to speak, but then started to bite at his lower lip and finally just shook his head. "Uh, no… nothing. I should probably talk to Gerald about something like this." he answered, though he knew that Gerald _was_ actually together with Phoebe right now, as his mom had predicted. Besides, he didn't really have a lot of time at the moment, in case Gerald didn't answer his phone right away.

"Arnold, I _am_ your cousin. You can talk to me about stuff you're worried about. Come on, tell me." Aaron inquired, as he put on his right shoe. Arnold opened his mouth for a moment, but then closed it again. "I don't know how comfortable you'd be with talking about something like this." he then admitted plainly.

Aaron quirked an eyebrow at the statement. "Oh! _That's_ what you're worried about!" he announced and chuckled for a bit. Arnold watched as he tied his shoes and then went over to sit next to him. "You worried about… your performance?" Aaron asked which made Arnold's eyes go wide. "A-Am I _that_ see-through?"

"Naw, but it's your first time. _Every_ boy worries about the same thing as you."

"I just… don't wanna disappoint her, or… do something she'd hate me for."

"Ok, first of all; Helga could _never_ hate you. Remember, this is a girl, who has been in love with you since she was in fucking preschool. You think she can suddenly hate you for something like that? Come on. Secondly, I really doubt you'll _disappoint_ her too. Again, because she loves you, but also because you two have already done something before this. She sorta knows what to expect at this point. Besides… I know what it was you went shopping for earlier, and may I just say: Bravo! She'll love them."

Arnold blushed all over his body at that statement from Aaron. "Y-You think so? It's not too mushy?" he asked. "Oh, hell yes. It's mushy as fuck… but she'll love it." Aaron answered and patted his back a little. "So? Anything else that you're worried about?"

"I'm still worried about the other thing."

"Your performance?"

"Can we _please_ not call it that?"

"Fine, you having sex with Helga?" Aaron asked, earning a slight blush from Arnold for the bluntness. "U-Uh-huh… I mean… I don't know anything about a girl's body. I mean, not really…" he answered, still blushing almost from head to toe. "You knew enough to make Helga scream like that. I think you'll be fine." Aaron answered with a snicker, as Arnold choked on his breath. "Well, uh… I was kinda just caught up in the moment."

"You'll be caught up in the moment tonight as well, believe me, and so will she. Seriously, you have all the right instincts to make this night amazing for the both of you. You worry about her pleasure, you even asked for help despite feeling awkward about it, you've already done stuff together, so you have a clue – even if it's only subconscious – to what she likes, and, most importantly, you _love_ her, and she loves _you_. That's all you need."

Arnold took a deep breath and then smiled, obviously reassured by Aaron's words. "Thanks, Aaron… That makes me feel a lot better." He said. "You're welcome." Aaron said, patted his back and stood up. "I owed ya after all."

"Yeah… and you owe Helga too." Arnold pointed out with a frown and stood up. "Oh, trust me. She got her revenge." Aaron answered and rubbed his nose a little, though Arnold couldn't see that, since Aaron had his back turned on him.

"Uh-huh. Well, _I_ haven't." Arnold pointed out. "Huh?" Aaron muttered and turned around, just in time for him to be slapped by Arnold. "Ow!" he exclaimed and let his hand start rubbing his cheek. "I'm sorry, Aaron, but I _had_ to do something. I can't believe you blackmailed Helga! What kinda person does that?!" Arnold asked in slight anger.

"Ow… Man, you and Helga are really the perfect couple." Aaron muttered and rubbed his cheek a little more. "Huh? Why are you saying that?" Arnold asked curiously. "She punched me earlier today." Aaron answered and straightened his back a little, since he had been bending forward since the slap.

Arnold's eyes went wide. "She did? Wait… is that why your nose is all purple?" he asked. "Yeah, yeah, don't rub it in." Aaron answered with a slight smirk and let his hand fall from his cheek. Arnold snickered a bit, but then stopped the sound instantly. "S-Sorry… but I just can't feel bad for you."

"I don't want you to. I told Helga this too; I know I deserve it, but, please, no more, or else my parents will start wondering if you guys have been abusing me, when I get home." Aaron answered with a small chuckle following. Arnold chuckled along and nodded. "Yeah, I promise." He answered.

"Oh, Arnold!" a cheerful, female voice called in a singsong voice. "Uh, yes, mom?" Arnold answered with a slight frown. "Someone's here to see you!" she answered in the same singsong voice. His eyes went wide at that. "Helga!" he exclaimed and turned to look at Aaron nervously. "You'll be fine! Follow your instincts. The good ones… depending on what kind of _bad_ instincts you also have" Aaron answered with a wink and walked past him.

Arnold blushed a little at that, as he wondered if he really had _those_ kinds of bad instincts? He didn't have much time to think about it though, since Aaron was already holding the door open for him, gesturing for him to go first. He didn't waste any time; he went straight out of the door in something resembling a jog and barely heard Aaron telling him to 'calm down already' behind him.

Arnold only reached the top of the stairs, before he stopped short at that image in front of him – or rather _below_ him. At the end of the stairs, Helga was currently talking to his parents about something, though he didn't really hear about what. All he saw was those blonde curls, cascading down her shoulders, which were only half covered by a black, leather vest. He couldn't help himself; his eyes traveled down further and noticed a pair of slightly familiar, creamy thighs. He also recognized the pink, plaid skirt covering half of them.

"Oh, there you are, Arnold." Miles said with a big smile, causing Helga to look at up Arnold instantly. He noticed how her hair flew through the wind as she had done so and now landed perfectly in place again. _Oh, God, she's beautiful…_ He thought inside his head, and noticed how she blushed, as she looked him. _I-I guess the dark blue shirt is green lighted…_

"Hey, Arnold." Aaron whispered behind him. "How about using those two lumps at the end of your legs and start walking _down_ to the girl you're gawking at?" he continued to whisper, before he gently pushed at Arnold's back. "Uh, y-yeah." He muttered in answer and started to descend the stairs.

"H-Hi, Arnold." Helga greeted, a little unsure of what exactly she was supposed to say in this particular situation. In addition, she felt slightly self-conscious at the moment about how she was looking. "Hi, Helga." He answered, feeling just as self-conscious as she did, though he still couldn't get over how beautiful she looked, and was mostly just wearing a goofy smile. Noticing that, she couldn't help but smile the same way.

"Well! I don't mean to be rude, but two is a company and seven is a crowd. We'd better get going." Aaron announced and went into the living room to fetch his grandparents. "Yeah, he's right. You two have fun now, ok?" Stella requested and went to open the door. "Stella." Miles said. When she turned around to look at him, he gave her a knowing look. "Oh, I mean, don't have _too_ much fun, you hear?"

Both Arnold and Helga blushed at that slight reprimand, both of knowing far too well, what she was talking about. "Well, we're ready to go now, Shortman!" Phil said cheerfully as he, Gertie and Aaron emerged from the living room. When he laid eyes on Helga, they went wide. "Well, my! You sure look lovely tonight."

"Th-Thank you, Phil." Helga answered shyly and removed a lock of her hair from her face. Phil leaned closer to her and eyed her for a bit, making her back away a little in shyness. "You look _just_ like Gertie, when she was at your age!" he observed with a big, loving smile. "I-I do?" she asked with a smile. She didn't mind looking like Gertie; she was a fairly good-looking woman for her age, and she couldn't help but adore her through and through.

"Come and take a look at your younger self, Pookie!" Phil said with a wide grin and turned to look at his wife. "Why, Eleanor!" Gertie said happily and grabbed both of Helga's hands. "You look positively stunning tonight!" she said as she swung her around gently. "Th-Thank you." Helga muttered again, as Gertie let go of her, sending her gently into Arnold's arm with her back turned against him. "B-But you really are overdoing it."

"No, they're not. You look really beautiful, Helga." Arnold whispered into her ear, causing her to blush slightly. "Thank you… You look really handsome yourself." she whispered back as she turned her head around to look at him with a loving smile. "Yeah, yeah, we get it! You wanna be alone already! Come on; let's get outta here before we'll all need appointments at the dentist!" Aaron said teasingly and started to push gently at his grandparents' back.

The two blonde-haired teens couldn't help but smile at the obvious attempt from Aaron at giving them as much time alone as possible. "Yes, yes. Have a lovely evening, you two." Stella said with a smile as she walked out. "Yeah, sweep her off her feet, Shortman!" Phil added with a teasing chuckle following. "G-Grandpa!" Arnold chastised, though he couldn't help but laugh when he heard Helga sniggering.

"Hey, Arnold." Aaron whispered into Arnold's ear, as he went back a couple of steps to do so. "Remember the bad instincts too." He added with a wink. "G-Got it! Shut up already." Arnold whispered, completely sure that Helga could feel his heart beat against her back. "See you!" Aaron simply answered with a wave before he went out of the door.

"What did you two just whisper about?" Helga asked when they had all left. "Uh… boy stuff." Arnold simply answered. He could hear her snicker. "I think I know what that means." She muttered and was about to walk past him to walk into the dining room, but was stopped, when she felt his warms wrap around her from behind

"I missed you…" Arnold whispered into Helga's ear, causing a lovely shudder to run down through her spine. "W-What in the… We saw each other only…" she muttered, but then started to turn her face around to look at him. "… yesterday…" she continued, but then she saw his eyes, which were filled with longing. Longing for _her_. "Oh, who cares…?" she muttered and lifted her left hand to place it on his cheek. "I missed you too…"

Then Helga and Arnold's lips met for the third time – or, if you counted the kissed when they were children too, the _sixth_ time – and they had both missed the feeling so much that it was almost scary. The first kiss had been gentle, sweet, tender… the second one was almost fiery.

Arnold loved the feeling of Helga's fingers in his hair, as she pulled him closer to her. She was devouring him completely, like an animal hungry for its prey. He wanted to touch her so badly, and his usual gentle attitude had somehow disappeared. His hands, which had been on her stomach a second ago, now went up towards her breasts.

Helga gasped a bit at the feeling and made an involuntarily buck against Arnold's pelvis, causing his mouth to hit her neck. "Yes…" she whispered, and though it hadn't been on purpose, he started kissing her neck. Her hand kept fisting his hair, while the other one went behind her back. "Helga…" he whispered in her ear, as he realized what she was _searching_ for.

"Sorry, you guys, I forgot - - Whoa!" Aaron shouted in surprise. He had been just about to enter the hallway, but stopped short when he saw Arnold and Helga doing… well, _that_. Helga shrieked in surprise as Arnold moved his hands from her chest, but kept standing behind her.

Aaron blinked a couple of times before he sighed a bit. "Being interrupted seems to be your thing, huh?" he observed and went to grab a black coat hanging on the wall. "Look," he said as he started putting it on his upper body. "it's obviously not my business in which order you choose to do this, but if you'll let me give you a tip, then it'd be better to eat first. Trust me; you'll need the energy."

With those words, Aaron turned around, opened the door again and walked outside. "Oh, and sorry about the interruption. Seriously, please don't kill me tomorrow, Helga. Bye!" he said, before he closed the door behind him and left the two blondes alone once again.

Both Arnold and Helga sighed in unison and started leaning against each other. "He's right… interruption _is_ our thing." Arnold whispered near her ear, causing that lovely shudder to go through her once again. "Yeah…" she muttered and then turned her face around to look at him. "But he's probably right about the eating first thing…"

Arnold nodded in reluctance, though he knew Helga's words had also born a bit of reluctance in them. "Come on, football head." She said sweetly and grabbed his hand. That small action was all it took for him to just follow her like a puppy into the dining room. "What did you plan for us to make?"

"Oh, uh, I was thinking something that was easy to make like curry or something." Arnold answered, hoping that Helga didn't have any hidden allergies to such a thing. He knew of her strawberry allergy, but she had never mentioned being allergic to anything else. She turned around with a big smile though. "Mmm, sounds good!"

Arnold couldn't help but smile at that. He was just happy he hadn't chosen something she hated or would be allergic to. No matter what Aaron had said, Arnold still wanted to make this night perfect. It was special after all. Not only was it their first date, not only had they only started dating only yesterday, but they also had almost everything to themselves.

* * *

"Well… we managed to not burn this at least." Arnold said, as he held up two plates of curry with a… well, _almost_ decent amount on them. Helga couldn't help but giggle. "I guess we were distracted for too long, huh?" she wondered aloud as she eyed the more burnt version of the curry on the table. "Yeah… distracted." he repeated, as he let that exact distraction roam through his mind.

* * *

_They had been in the middle of frying the curry and even mixing it with chicken, when Arnold hadn't been able to not take a peek at Helga's skirt. It wasn't his fault, damn it, she was the one to have bend down to get… whatever she had been about to get!_

_Nothing was shown, it wasn't like it was a really short skirt or something, so Arnold didn't see anything as such, but his eyes were still glued to Helga, when she suddenly straightened her back and turned to look at him. He had whipped his whole head away in such an obvious way, that there was no way she couldn't have realized what he was looking at._

"_It's ok to look, Arnold." Helga had said and then jumped onto the counter with a hungry smirk on her lips. "As long as it's at me that is." She added, before she held both her hands out for Arnold to take. He had felt a little dumbfounded to say the least, but grabbed her hands anyhow, somewhat moving on only instinct at this point._

_Helga pulled Arnold closer to her, as she intertwined her fingers into his. With a predatory grin, she let her tongue lick his neck in one swift motion, making him shudder in surprise and ecstasy. "Now you know how that feels." She whispered in his ear before she started biting the lobe of it. He gasped a little as he laid his hands on her hips._

_As soon as Helga felt Arnold's hands on her hipbone, she snaked her legs around his waist and pulled him closer to her. She enjoyed how shocked he was and yet how completely enchanted he was by her. It was this kind of power, she preferred over anything else. She lifted her hand to beneath his chin and then let her thumb and index finger lift his face up towards her._

"_What's wrong, football head? Cat got your - - mm!" Helga gasped when Arnold's lips clashed against her own, silencing her in the sweetest way possible. She let her eyes stay open for a couple of seconds, enjoying being able to look into half-lidded ones. It was different to actually look into those green orbs rather than just seeing darkness from her own eyelids._

_Helga removed her lips though, wanting to try something. She laid her hands on Arnold's cheeks, and noticed how his mouth was a little open, because he was panting. Well, since his mouth just happens to be open… She thought with a small smile, before she moved towards his lips. His eyes went a little wide when he felt the tip of her tongue gently brush against lower lip. He didn't dare to try anything himself, at least not until her tongue went into his mouth._

_Arnold lost his mind at that, and started rolling his tongue gently around Helga's tongue, enjoying how their moans overlapped each other's. He lifted his hand to put it on her neck and then pulled her closer to him. He hated that she was up on the counter at this very moment, and that actually gave him an idea. He just hoped he could do it._

_Letting go of Helga's mouth completely, Arnold snaked one of his arms around her waist and lifted her up a bit, so he could snake the other one beneath her bum. She swung her arms around him in slight surprise, as he lifted her off the counter and carried her to the coffee table, which was considerably lower than the counter._

_When Helga's back hit the table, she gasped in lust. She had never expected Arnold to do something so animal like and she loved it. His mouth went straight to her lips again, wishing with all of his being to feel her tongue against his again. He felt elated when her legs around his waist started to pull him against her, making his hardened member push against her moist area._

_Then both teens noticed something. They removed their lips from each other's and started to sniff coordinated. "Do you smell something?" Helga asked with a slight frown, which Arnold nodded at in reply. Slowly, almost with fear, they turned their heads to look towards the pan, where the curry was supposed to simmer just slightly. Instead, black smoke had been emerging from it._

* * *

"Arnold!" Helga said in a loud voice, as she was snapping her fingers in front of his face. "Huh? What?" he said as he opened his eyes completely. "Did you go into your personal Wonderland again or something?" she asked teasingly with her arms crossed beneath her chest. "Uh…" he simply muttered, noticing that he was still standing in the kitchen with his girlfriend, holding the plates in his hands.

_His girlfriend…_ Arnold almost felt like chuckling rather silly at that, but Helga pulled him out of his thoughts again by walking closer to him. "Why fantasize about me when the real thing is right in front of you?" she asked in a whisper, laid her hand against his neck and pulled him into a kiss. He gasped a little into her mouth, as he tried to hold the plates steady in his hands. He noticed one of them disappearing out of his grasp, as her lips also vanished from his.

When Arnold opened his eyes again, he could see Helga's blue eyes in front of him as she winked at him, and went towards the dining room with one of the plates with curry on it. He gazed at her for a bit, before he just sighed in deep happiness and followed her out of the kitchen.

* * *

Arnold and Helga simply chatted a little bit as they ate, at least until Arnold remembered something. "Right. You were acting weird. What was that about?" he asked gently. She frowned a little at him, not sure what he was talking about at all. "Huh? Oh! That!" she said with a smile and swallowed the chicken in her mouth. "_Actually_… on my way home from the hospital last night, my parents came to pick me up."

Arnold's eyes went a little wide at that. "They _did_? Huh… Uh, why?" he asked. Helga smiled at his surprise, knowing he was about to get even more surprised. "You won't believe it… They actually heard about me going to the hospital, and misunderstood _completely_! They thought _I_ had been at the hospital, you know?"

"Oh, God. What did you say to that?"

"What could I say? I tried to explain to them that they were misunderstanding, but then… when we got home they gave me this long speech about how they were really sorry about not even knowing about the baseball game, that they knew they weren't the best parents, but they'd try to do better from now on and yadda-yadda-yadda."

"So… why aren't you happy, if they'll start caring more now?"

"I'll believe it when I see it." Helga answered with a frown as she started to push a carrot around on the plate. Arnold sighed a bit. He'd wish she'd try to believe them just a little bit. Finding out that your child had gone to the hospital might be a pretty big shock, he could imagine. Perhaps big enough for them to realize how much she meant to them both? "But…" she then added, gaining his attention again. "I'll give them a chance… I guess."

Arnold couldn't help but smile at that. "That's really great, Helga. I think you can trust them. I don't think they'll disappoint you this time." He said gently, as he laid his hand over Helga's wrist. "Yeah, they'd better not; this is their last chance." She answered with a smile and started eating again.

Arnold couldn't help but notice the somewhat pensive look on Helga's face, as they kept eating. She was eyeing her food oddly, as if she wanted to question something about it. "Helga…? Is there something wrong with the curry?" he asked carefully. "Huh?" she muttered and turned her face to look at him. "Uh, no. Why?"

"You just… You just look like there's something on your mind."

"… Well… I-It's nothing serious, _really_. Just a… sm-small, silly thing."

"You can tell me."

"… Can I… uh… Can I indulge one of my more ridiculously… girlish fantasies with you?" Helga then asked with her cheeks reddening in such an adorable way, that Arnold almost felt like blushing himself. "Uh… of course. What is it?" he asked a little nervously, since if she called something girly, she probably did mean _really_ girly.

"U-Uh, i-it's really is just this really silly thing. It's just something I've seen in movies and read in books, and I-I kinda just wanna, you know, try it, just for fun and I - - "

"Helga… what do you want me to do?" Arnold interrupted gently, almost at the verge of laughing, simply because he found Helga's shyness too cute. She looked down at her curry again and scooped a little of it up in the spoon and then turned to face him again. "O-Open wide." She requested with a nervous laugh following.

Arnold's eyes went wide, and he could actually feel his heart stop beating. _I-Is she gonna… feed me?_ He wondered in his head, but then just closed his eyes with a nervous gulp. He could hear Helga gulping nervously as well, before he felt the warm spoon against his mouth and he opened it. The curry, along with the chicken, some carrots and tomatoes slid into his mouth and he savored the flavor for as long as he could. _Somehow, it tastes better…_

Arnold then swallowed the food, opened his eyes and gave a tense and awkward smile. "Th-Thank you…" he said in embarrassment, which Helga just nodded at in just as much embarrassment. Despite the embarrassment, she was obviously also trying to hide a very big smile, which threatened to form itself on her face any second.

_I wonder…_ Arnold thought as he eyed his own curry a little bit. _I might as well… I kinda wanna try it too._ He then scooped up a little curry on his spoon, blew a little on it and extended it towards Helga. "Helga?" he inquired quietly, making her turn around to face him again. "Yeah?" she answered, but then she noticed the spoon in his hand. Her whole body tensed as she realized his intentions and, for a second, it looked like she would refuse, but then she just gulped, closed her eyes and opened her mouth a bit.

Arnold's eyes went wide at seeing Helga like that. There was something oddly adorable about it, and yet… something oddly sensual too. Her, just waiting for him to feed her… _Oh, God_, was all he could think before he lost his senses and clashed his lips against hers. He could hear her gasp into his mouth, but after only two seconds, she was kissing him back with full force.

The kiss was heated, and yet brief. Arnold wasn't even sure how he managed to let go of Helga's lips at this point, but he forced himself to do so. "Did… Did you trick me?" she asked as she panted a bit. He shook his head. "No… I just… Seeing you like that made me… Uh, here." He simply answered and then extended the spoon towards her mouth again. Without hesitation this time, she opened her mouth to engulf the substance on the spoon and swallowed it gently.

Helga and Arnold's eyes met, when she opened her eyes again. He noticed a bit of the curry on the corner of her lips and let the tip of his tongue lick it away. She gasped at that, but then grabbed his cheeks to kiss him, as if she could steal the curry back from his tongue. His attempt at putting the spoon away on his plate was rather clumsy, but he managed to do it, so he could wrap his arms around her waist.

"A-Arnold, w-wait a second…" Helga gasped in-between the kisses, but it was as if Arnold couldn't hear her. Before she knew what was happening, he had moved away from his chair and was now sitting on his knees next to her, pulling her body around, so that it was facing him. He caused her to gasp, when she felt his lips kiss her leather-clad stomach.

"A-Arnold! Hold on!" Helga then begged, knowing that if she didn't stop him now, then she'd never be able to. She grabbed his cheeks, removed his mouth from her stomach and pulled his face up, so he could see her. "W-What's wrong?" he asked with a hard pant. She panted as well. "W-We need to… to clean the, uh…" she muttered and turned to look at the plates on the table. She shook her head to try to stop the guilty thoughts in her mind, so she could focus for at least a couple more minutes. "We need to clean the dishes first."

Arnold turned to look at the curry-filled plates, realizing that Helga was right. "Oh… yeah." He answered, gulped and then stood up. She stood up as well, both of them grabbing their own plates as they tried their hardest not to look at each other and thereby losing their composure again.

When Helga and Arnold had gotten into the kitchen, him starting to wash the dishes and her drying them off, he couldn't help but feel a major case of deja-vu. "You remember this?" he asked with a smile, earning her attention. "… Yeah. Don't remind me." She answered with a slight giggle.

"Oh, come on, that was a fun night."

"Oh, sure. Me mistaking Chez Paris for Chez Pierre and thereby ending up doing the dishes to pay for our meal was the most fun I've had my _entire_ life."

"I enjoyed that evening. I got to see a new side of you, you ended up doing the right thing and…" Arnold said, before he splashed some water at Helga. She shrieked and almost dropped the plate in shock. "I remember doing this." he added with a chuckle. "Arnold!" she scolded, but couldn't but laugh at that very fond memory. "Shut up and rinse."

Arnold felt really happy at this particular moment. As he noticed that, he suddenly had a very blissful thought. He turned to gaze at Helga. Looking at the way she was drying the plate, he couldn't help but saying his thoughts out loud. "We kinda…" he started, but then went quiet as he simply started smiling dazedly. "Hmm? We kinda what?" she asked and turned around to face him, after having put the plate down on the counter.

Arnold kept smiling at Helga as he turned around to hand her the plate in his hands. "Cooking together, cleaning the dishes like this… We kinda resemble a married couple." He answered, as she took the plate. Her eyes went wide, he heard her gasp and then she dropped the plate. "Whoa!" he exclaimed as he quickly grabbed the plate again, stopping it from shattering on the floor.

"You trying to give me a heart attack?!" Helga shrieked, feeling her heart practically pump at her ribcage. "Huh?" Arnold muttered and stood up again to face her properly. Her face was as red as the tomato they had used in the curry, and he figured he had embarrassed her within an inch of her life.

"Stupid football head! D-Don't give me any funny ideas!" Helga said in embarrassment, cupped her hands beneath the running water and splashed it on Arnold. He gasped in surprise and managed to place the plate on the counter unharmed, before he stumbled back a bit in surprise. When he looked up at her, she was wearing a very happy grin on her face. Whether it was due to his marriage comment or her revenge, he did not know nor did he really care.

"Oh, you're gonna get it now!" Arnold announced as he went for the water. "No!" Helga shrieked, as he splashed some water on her, making the leather on her upper body start to stick to her body. "Idiot! This is leather. It's really uncomfortable if it gets wet!" she exclaimed with a laugh and looked down on herself. "You started this!" he pointed out as he started to look at her. "It's your own…"

Arnold's eyes went wide, as he saw the water drops trickle down Helga's neck and cleavage. He gulped loudly, causing her to look at him in slight confusion. It only took her a second to realize what he was looking at though, when she felt the cold water shimmer down on her breast.

"Well…" Helga said with a sly smirk and started to bite on her lower lip. "It's a good thing that I'm wearing something _underneath_ this." she added. Arnold's eyes went wider at that statement. "Something…" was all he managed to repeat, before he gulped again, this time more inaudibly though.

"How about you finish up here, while I… go up into your room?" Helga suggested, as her fingers went for the zipper in her leather jacket. Arnold didn't start 'finishing' _anything_ though; he just kept staring at her, as she turned around and pulled the vest off her shoulders as she did so, revealing some black, laced straps on them.

Arnold almost followed Helga, as she walked out into the hallway and out of sight, but then he remembered the small mess they had just made. He started cleaning up as quickly as he could, wanting to get up into his room as soon as possible. _H-Helga wearing lingerie… I bet it's pink…_ He thought and then started to wash his hands rapidly.

When Arnold was sure he had finished, he suddenly looked at his hands and frowned. He laid one of them against his arm and almost shivered at how cold it was. _Oh, great! I don't want to have cold hands now!_ He thought in a frenzy and went to the sink again. He turned on the water, this time making it warm before he put his hand beneath the faucet. He was about to grab the soap, when his hand flinched back instantly. _No! What's the matter with me?! I don't wanna smell like soap either!_ He thought and shook his head before he turned off the sink. He was about to dry his hands in the towel hanging on the wall, but then stopped short again. _Everyone uses that towel all the time and it haven't been changed since a week ago! Nu-uh, no way!_ He thought and went for the paper towels instead.

When Arnold was sure that his hands were warm, none-soapy and dry, he went out into the hallway. He practically jogged up through the stairs and was just about to barge into his room, when he realized something else. With a slightly childish, impatient groan, he went down the stairs again and into the bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror and started straightening his shirt, but when his hands went up into his hair, the memory of Helga's hands running through it came to his mind.

_What am I doing? It's gonna get messy in a second anyway…_ Arnold thought, shook his head and went towards the door. He stopped for a second though, groaned a bit, went back to the mirror and straightened his hair anyway. Then he finally went out of the bathroom, up to his door and stopped in front of it. With a deep breath, he took ahold of the door handle and slowly walked into his room…

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: Sorry… I just like to string people along :P But the next chapter SHOULD be up later today (tonight, whatever xD) Nice morning reading, eh? xD I promise that they'll make love in the next chapter :P AND… *drum solo* it'll be the last chapter! We're talking le sex, le awkward morning and le goodbyes xD Then there'll be an epilogue, though I don't know how long that'll be, nor when it'll be finished. I just wanna finish the actual story before Wednesday, since that's when I'll start school, so my time will suddenly be limited xD And, remember, I'm Danish, we're 6 hours ahead of America, so I don't have as much time as you think! xD**


	41. Don't you think that I am?

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**After having Aaron calm Arnold down about his big night with Helga, the girl in question finally arrived. It was for both of the blondes to contain themselves through the evening, as the air was thick with the sexual tension between them. Finally, Helga declared she'd go up to Arnold's bedroom and wait for him. After some frantic cleaning up, and straightening of his clothes and hair, he finally took ahold of the door handle and walked inside…**_

**Author's 1st note: Sorry! In the end, I couldn't bring myself to write the last chapter yesterday… I was way too tired xD I also needed to prepare for my first school day :P**

* * *

Chapter 41: "Don't you think that I am?"

With a deep breath, Arnold took ahold of the door handle and slowly walked into his room. With something resembling veneration, he peeked his head into his room and noticed the dim light in there. It was mostly only the stars through his skylight which were lighting up the room, though that was actually enough for him to see the most important thing in the room; Helga.

Arnold could see the silhouette of the girl on the bed, sitting on the bed with her legs slowly dangling back and forth outside of it. Her arms were stretched down along her slim body, making her hourglass figure that much more obvious. He narrowed his eyes a bit, hoping for whatever she was wearing to become more obvious.

Arnold recognized the black straps; he had seen when Helga had walked out of the kitchen, but now he could see what they were holding. Covering her breasts was some sort of dark pink fabric going all the way down to cover her hips and the top of her thighs. Over the pink silk was some sort of black laces, creating a romantic pattern of flowers on her body.

_Oh, Jesus…_ Arnold thought inside his head in awe. His eyes went half-lidded and yet he felt really shy, when the goddess like girl stood up from the bed and walked closer to him. Without a word, she laid her hands on his shoulders and gave him a feathery kiss on his lips. He moaned towards her mouth, but she pulled her lips away while she lifted her right leg to rub it against him.

"I guess I don't have to ask what you think about what I'm wearing?" Helga wondered aloud as she felt Arnold's obvious erection inside his jeans. He instantly flinched away from her in embarrassment, but she had foreseen this action and was holding him by his belt to stop him from getting away. "Oh, no, you don't. No running away."

"I-I'm not running away, Helga, I'm just - - mm!" Arnold gasped inside Helga's mouth as his felt her tongue searching for his. He closed his eyes and surrendered to the pleasure. Her hands started roaming on his scalp, making his entire being shake because of the shudder going through him. As she kept kissing him, she started pulling him with her.

"H-Helga…" Arnold muttered in the kiss, but Helga didn't let him finish his sentence, before she started to gently bite at his lower lip; that simple motion almost sent him over the edge. His lips followed hers as he felt them disappear. When her body vanished from his, he opened his eyes and saw her lying on his bed in front of her, with a shy, yet predatory and adoring smile. He couldn't help but jump on top of her, when she extended her arms for him.

Arnold was practically ravaging Helga at this point, forgetting all about his surprise for a few seconds. All he could think about was her slender body beneath him, her legs which kept wrapping themselves around his waist and pulled him so dangerously close to her pelvis. "W-Wait, Helga." He then begged as he remembered his surprise and leaned back a little.

"Why?" Helga asked in disappointment and tried to steady her breath, since Arnold was obviously going to pull back for whatever reason. "I… I, uh…" he gulped a bit, feeling really nervous about this. _It's ok… I know her; she'll think it's mushy, but she'll also think it's cute. I know her…_ He assured himself and then smiled at her. "I have… a girlish fantasy too, you know?"

Helga blinked a couple of times, before she snickered as she sat up. "Now, why doesn't that surprise me?" she wondered aloud, before she kissed Arnold's lips again. "So, what is it?" she asked, as she bit at her lower lip. He really didn't want to move away from her, but he chose just to get his surprise quickly and then return to her as fast as possible.

"I-It's really something silly. I didn't plan it or anything, but I when I went by the shop, I just thought of you, so I…" Arnold muttered a bit, before he went quiet as he focused on trying to find the small bag he had hidden in his drawer. "Who's the one doing the nervous rant now?" Helga asked teasingly, which made him relax a bit.

Arnold then turned around, obviously hiding something behind his back. "Close your eyes." he requested. Helga rolled her eyes with a sigh, but did as requested anyhow. She could hear him approach her and felt his lips touch hers. For a second, she expected there to be something in his mouth, but nothing; it was a simple kiss. Not that there was anything wrong with that.

When Arnold's lips were gone from her own, Helga felt something tickle at her shoulder. She flinched a little, as she felt the same feeling at the other shoulder, then her chest, her cheek and even on her hair. "Arnold, what are…" she started out by saying, not capable of having her eyes closed anymore, and then her face showed a surprised expression.

Arnold was currently just smiling lovingly at Helga, as he was letting some pink petals fall on top of her. When one landed on her cheek, she grabbed it gently between two fingers and looked at it in awe. "Arnold… wha… what is this?" she asked in wonder and looked at him with a confused smile. "As I said… a girlish fantasy." He explained as he let the last petal fall. "I went by Mrs. Vitello's flower shop today and she a big bouquet of pink roses in her window. I couldn't help myself…"

"But… why?" Helga asked in wonder as she looked around on the bed, which was just as covered in those beautiful, pink petals as she was. Arnold shrugged a little as he sat down on his knees in front of her. "Helga… even if I did enjoy the first two times we did… well, _that_… then I wanted _this_ to be special, since I had the chance. I wanted to do this right. I wanted this to be a perfect memory."

Helga was touched, so very, very touched. She almost felt like crying from this familiar kindness and goodhearted nature. She wanted to drown him in kisses so badly… but she still had something she had to say, before she did so. "Arnold…" she said gently as she put her hands on his cheeks. "As kind… adorable… and romantic this gesture is… and no matter how much I love it… then I don't need these to make this a perfect memory."

Arnold's eyes went slightly wide at that. He didn't say anything though, as Helga continued. "I've been dreaming of this moment since I first fell in love with you… Well, since I knew this kind of moment could exist to be exact. It'll be perfect, Arnold, and you know why? Because I _want_ you, and I know that you want me, and that's all I really need… I don't want some pretty memory. All I want is you."

Arnold could almost feel tears prick at the corner of his eyes, and he probably would've started crying a bit, if Helga had given him a few more seconds to comprehend her words. She laid her lips against his, and kissed him with so much love and adoration, that he almost felt drunk when she moved away again.

"… You're amazing… you know that?" Arnold asked dazedly, causing Helga to smile broadly. "I _think_ someone might have told me that at some point." She answered with a smirk. "But I seem to have forgotten his name… Some football headed kid, I think, who's got big, blonde tuffs of hair, eyes as green as the forest and - - "

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Arnold interrupted and clashed his lips against Helga's. His kiss was almost feverish, which made her gasp a little bit. She kissed him back hungrily and moved her hands to his neck. She loved the angle they were in, and it seemed like he didn't really mind it either, since he was in the perfect height to kiss her breasts.

Helga gasped at the only slightly familiar feeling of Arnold's mouth against one of her breasts. She had wanted to feel that ecstasy against ever since he had dared to kiss her on her chest at her party. She knew her breasts and neck were sensitive places and she was starting to suspect that he knew that. Either that or he enjoyed as much as she did.

Helga could feel Arnold's arm snake behind her waist, and gasped a little in surprise when he pulled her closer to him and to the edge of the bed. With a sly smirk, he started to kiss just beneath her chest, going down to her navel and even kissing her on her thighs. He had been about to pull up at her nightgown, until he felt her hands on his shoulders.

"Not fair… I'm already the more naked one." Helga muttered with a slight pout, which caused Arnold to chuckle a bit, as he stood up again, wrapping his arms her waist as he did so. With a small gasp, she wrapped her legs and arms around his body, as he turned the both of them around, so that he was now sitting on the bed, and she was straddling him.

"Then let's change that, shall we?" Arnold suggested, before he kissed the corner of Helga's mouth. _Oh, so he wants to play, eh? Well, you just got yourself a really powerful enemy, my beloved._ She smiled slyly at him, as she started to pull down on his shirt. "Helga, what are you doing?" he asked in wonder, as he felt his arms tighten into his body. "Oh, I just thought this could be fun…" she answered and let her fingertip slide down his now bare chest. "It kinda resembled a straitjacket, doesn't it?"

Arnold looked down at his almost tied-up body and then quirked an eyebrow. "You calling me crazy?" he asked with a bit of sarcasm to his voice. "Well… you _are_ in love with _me_, so…" Helga answered and then let her teeth grab his earlobe. He gasped at the feeling of slight pain, which actually just made the pleasure greater. How was that possible?

Arnold turned his head around to kiss Helga's cheek. In surprise, she turned her face around too and their lips touched each other's. Despite the slight surprise, they both started kissing each other fiercely, their tongues fighting for dominance over the other. It was safe to say, that he was more than a little surprised, when he felt her grab the back of his head and pull him away from her.

"… Oh, forget it. I can torture you some other time." Helga declared, forgetting her former plans about bittersweet torment against Arnold and started to unbutton his shirt to let him loose. He didn't have a clue to what she had meant about torture; all he knew was, that after she had opened his shirt, he practically attacked her, using his arms to wrap around her shoulders and throwing her back onto the petal-covered bed.

Helga gasped for only a second, before she started whimpering at Arnold touching her breasts. She didn't even know that she was doing it, but her bittersweet torture _did_ happen; through that continuous sway she did against his pelvis, which almost made him lose his mind. He went towards the hem of her nightgown and started pulling it up. She arched her back to help him, but was surprised to feel her nightgown stop around her elbows.

"What is it with you and leaving clothes half on?" Helga asked, barely noticing that she was half-naked at this point. "I don't know. Maybe I just wanna punish you for planning to torture me in the first place?" Arnold suggested with a sly smirk, before his mouth went down to bite gently at the flesh at the start of her breast.

Helga gasped loudly at that and even tried to wiggle her arms out of her nightgown – which she hated at that very moment, mind you – but it was a vain attempt. "Arnold!" she whimpered and instantly gained his attention. She pouted and frowned at him at the same time, and he couldn't help but just smiling lovingly at her. "Oh, all right… since you let me go too." He replied to her unsaid question and started pull at her nightgown.

As soon as Helga's arms were free, she wrapped them around Arnold's neck, pushing him to the side, so that she landed on top of him. He sneaked his arms around her waist and just held her there, loving the feeling of her body on his. She was smiling lovingly at him, and it wasn't until she moved a little closer to his lips, thereby gliding her body against his, that he started to feel her hardened nipples against him.

In surprise, Arnold gasped a bit and turned to look towards their chests. He could hear Helga giggle a little at him, as she pulled back a bit to sit up. He gulped, as the goddess above him, sat on top of his member and smirked down at him. "Like what you see, football head?" she asked with some sort of fake innocence in her voice. All he could do was gulp again, and nod shyly.

Helga felt elated by such a small motion and couldn't help but smile at him. "Well, I like what I'm seeing too… You really are handsome, Arnold." She said a little shyly and bend down towards him, purposely bucking her sex against his as she did so. It was obvious for the blonde girl that she had made the blonde boy shy, and she therefore simply kissed his collarbone, as if that was putting the cherry at the top of the dessert.

Arnold's body flinched a little at Helga's gentle kiss, but also arched his back a little as if to beg her to continue. "Seriously…" she whispered as she kissed him slowly from his collarbone, to his Adam's apple and to his chin. "I could… just eat you… up." She finished with a kiss on his warm, moist lips and she could hear him growl at the back of his throat.

Helga hadn't expected Arnold to grab her shoulders firmly and then turning the both of them around, now with him on top of her. "I'd rather eat _you_ up." He whispered in her ear and bit gently at her earlobe, though he felt embarrassed to boot at what he had just admitted. First, she gasped at the feeling of his teeth on her flesh, but then she opened her eyes in surprise at his offer.

When Helga didn't answer him, Arnold pulled up a little to look at her with an crooked, unsure smile. "Does that make you uncomfortable?" he asked gently, awaiting for her answer. She looked like she thought about for a second, before she blushed heavily and then shook her head. "Not uncomfortable… Just… shy." She answered with a gulp and started to rub the palm of her hand against her temple with an embarrassed smile.

Arnold eyed Helga for a second before he got an idea. With a soothing smile, he wrapped his fingers into hers and laid his palm gently against hers. She looked at their hands a little oddly, until he moved their hands up to his chest to make her feel his heart. Her eyes widened a little as she felt how hard and fast it beat against the back of her hand.

Helga couldn't help but smile at Arnold with so much love and awe. "Thank you…" she whispered and moved their hands to her mouth to kiss the back of his hand. It had been such a simple, cute and almost elegant gesture; and it had made his heart beat with excitement. He lowered down to kiss her lips once more, before he continued his task.

Arnold gently kissed Helga's jaw, her throat, the middle of both her collarbones and between her breasts with butterfly kisses, which most of all made her whole body tingle with excitement. When he reached her stomach, she arched her back a little at how much it made her tickle, but she did her best to stay put; especially when he untangled their hands, that was when she felt she had to grab the sheets beneath her to be somewhat calm.

As Helga was sure Arnold was about to remove her panties, she felt both his hands suddenly pull at both of her breasts. She gasped a little, but couldn't help but giggle at the motion; it was obvious how much he was trying to make her relax, and it worked. He slid his hands slowly down her whole body, making her shiver a little beneath him.

When Arnold finally reached Helga's panties, a somewhat out of character idea occurred to him. He was pretty sure it could go under the category of 'making Helga more relaxed'. Gently biting down to the hem of her panties, he started to pull them down her legs. "Arnold!" she gasped in a mix of surprise, wonder and giggles. She hadn't even been able to say his name properly, that's how such a simple motion turned her on.

Arnold chuckled a bit next to Helga's legs as he threw the panties down on the floor, somewhere close to her nightgown. "I couldn't help myself…" he said as he position himself above her legs, which were pulled firmly against each other. "You never could, huh?" she asked with a sly smirk, thinking that his small, dirty tricks were over at this point. "No," he said with a smile, laid his hands on her knees and pulled her legs roughly apart. "I guess not."

"Arnold!" Helga shrieked in awe, before he started to chuckle and positioned himself between her legs to kiss her. She sighed through her nose as what should be a somewhat familiar feeling at this point thought it still felt so new and exciting, went through her. She did gasp loudly though, when his lips vanished from her lips to go to her right breast.

Helga pulled her legs around Arnold at the intense feeling and thereby pulled him a little closer and she felt his jeans against her. The somewhat rough fabric actually felt rather good against her naked sex and she couldn't help but start to buck against it.

Helga could feel Arnold's heavy breath against her chest; he obviously liked that feeling as well. "What are you doing?" he asked with a slight chuckle, as she kept moving him against her. She shrugged as she deliberately panted against his lips. His mouth almost crashed against hers as she give a very rough push to end her teasing. "All right," he said, and give her lips a firm lick. "I'll get on with it."

Though it hadn't been Helga's one true intention, Arnold did move down towards her sex once again. What she hadn't expected, but started to suspect when she saw that sly smirk on his face, was for him to pull her legs up to place them on his shoulders. "Arnold! Th-That's way too - - Ah!" she gasped when he gently kissed her just above her clit. _Oh, who cares, let him do this the way he wants to…_ She decided and then just went quiet – well, relatively quiet.

Arnold positioned himself, so that his chest was against the sheets, Helga's legs over his shoulders and his face positioned between them. _Instincts, instincts…_ He reminded himself and started by placing gentle, feathery kissed on her hipbone, her thighs and even at the pit of her stomach. He noticed how much she was shivering as she moaned heavily. _I wonder if she's reacting like this because I'm really teasing her… or if she's still a little scared?_

Arnold lifted his head to look at Helga. Her chest was moving up and down rapidly, and she was breathing heavily, and her face… her face was completely relaxed, her open mouth being an exception. He smiled a little. _I guess it's the teasing…_ He decided and then gently kissed her clit. She gasped in a high-pitched voice and her hand went automatically straight to her mouth.

Arnold snickered at the image and pulled his face away from Helga's pelvis. "What are you trying to be quiet for?" he wondered aloud, making her blue eyes look at him. "I-I don't know…" she admitted behind her hand and then removed it. "I guess I… For a second, I guess I was just wondering when your family would be home?"

Then Arnold remembered that he had never told Helga about them being all alone the whole night. "Oh! Well… don't worry about that." he answered sweetly and sneaked his way out of his personal Helga prison in-between her legs. "Huh? Why?" she wondered as his mouth was laid against her ear. "They won't be home until tomorrow." He whispered into her ear.

Helga's eyes went wide at Arnold's answer. She lifted her hands to put them against his cheeks and she pulled his face away from her, so that she could look at him in disbelief. "You threw them out?" she asked with a skeptic frown. "No!" he answered with a snicker. "They're going to a restaurant at the other side of town. They'll be spending the night at a hotel."

Helga blinked a couple of times before she growled at Arnold and then smacked the back of his head. "Get down there, you stupid football head, and I'll change the 'being quiet' thing." She said with a mocking pout. He chuckled at her and bit a little at her lower lip to string her along a little longer. "Yes, ma'am." He answered before he went back at his former position.

For a second, Helga regretted her order, because the feeling of Arnold's tongue against her sex was almost too much for her to bear. She tried to breathe regularly, but every time she thought she had herself under control, he made some new stunt, which just made her breath get irregular once again. _My God! This is both amazing and completely miserable!_

Helga wasn't sure why she had done, what she did, but at some point she noticed that her hand had gone straight to her left breast. _I'm not sure if I'm trying to reach for my heart or something…_ She wondered in her mind and then just shook her head, as she kept holding her breast in her palm. She noticed that when Arnold did something new or something making her erratic, she involuntarily squeezed her breast. _What am I using it for, some sort of stress ball to calm myself?!_

Arnold decided to try to look at Helga, mostly to just see how she was feeling despite her moans being an obvious answer to that question, and noticed her hand against one of her breasts. With a smirk, he let his left hand reach for her right breast, still having his shoulder beneath her leg. _Whoa! How long are his arms anyway?!_ She thought, mostly because she felt frustrated about how he had misunderstood what she was doing. Then again, who wouldn't have misunderstood?

"Oh, God…" Helga muttered as everything just came crashing down on her. Arnold's tongue and sometimes even his _teeth_ against her sex, his hand fondling one of her breasts and her own hand even helping along… it all became too much. "A-Arnold, you have to stop…!" she said pleadingly and shook a little.

Arnold lifted his face and panted a little before he spoke. "Why? Am I hurting you?" he asked. "Well… n-no, but, uh - - " Helga answered, but was interrupted by him. "Then…" he said and went to gently place his teeth around her clit. She gasped loudly at that and her legs start shaking like if she was in the middle of an earthquake. "Pl-Please… I, uh… I don't think I… Oh, God… Arnold!" she shrieked as she felt her eyes roll back in her head, her hips buck against his face and her whole body just shattering at the intense feeling.

Helga finally grabbed Arnold's head to remove his heavenly tongue from her and she looked at him with slight accusation in her eyes. "Why didn't you stop?!" she asked in embarrassment. He panted a bit, having felt almost as if she had choked him just before, though mostly it was because of that lovely gasp she had made when she came. "I just…" he said, then sighed a bit and moved up to hover above her, her hand still cradling his hair. "I just wanted to… to hear that again."

"Hear what…?"

"That… sound you make, when you climax… I wasn't hurting you, so I… I thought it was… _Did_ I hurt you?" Arnold asked with a nervous gulp. Helga just sighed and pulled his lips close to hers. "You idiot." She said, as if that was a proper answer and clashed her lips against his. He was a little surprised at how little she cared about where his mouth had just been, but in a way… it was oddly erotic how little she cared.

When Helga's lips let go of Arnold's, she smiled at him. "You didn't hurt me… I'm just really embarrassed now… Y-Your head was down there, when I…" she didn't dare to finish her sentence as her whole body simply went scarlet red at the sheer memory. "Oh… sorry." He answered with a smile and laid down beside her, obviously not all that sorry. "But you did the same thing to me some days ago, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember!" Helga answered with a chuckle and punched Arnold's arm lightly, as she turned around on her side and laid her head against his shoulder. The shoulders her legs had just been on, she remembered and blushed a little again. _Oh, God, I wonder if I'll ever be not nervous around him? Maybe that's just part of being this much in love…?_ She wondered with a happy smile and snuggled a little closer to him.

"Just give me a second to relax, then we can continue." Helga whispered into Arnold's ear and gave him a teasing lick in front of his ear. She loved how such a simple thing could make him gasp in pleasure, and he even turned his head around to kiss her. It was more gentle than she had expected though and perhaps even a little hesitant. "Are you sure you want to continue?" he asked gently.

Helga frown in confusion and used her elbow to sit up properly. "What?" she muttered in surprise, and noticed how Arnold was nervously biting his lip. "I was just wondering… we started dating only yesterday… You sure you want to do this? I mean, we aren't going to fast?" he asked softly. _I can't believe it; the football head is still nervous._ She thought inside her head and almost wanted to scream at him.

"Going too fast?!" Helga repeated it in incredulity, making Arnold's eyes pop open a little. "Arnold! We've been in love for thirteen fucking years! Since we were _three years_ old! With everything that happened only this one month, you honestly think we're going too - - mm!" she gasped, when he lifted his hand, pulled her down to his lips and kissed her fiercely.

When the long, fierce kissed ended, Helga almost gasped when Arnold's lips let go of hers. He was smiling at her with so much love and adoration, that she almost blushed at that intense stare. "If you're ok with it… then I'm ok with it." He announced happily and pulled her down for another kiss. He could feel her teeth against his lips as she giggle and he let go of her to give her a questioning look.

"You really need to start thinking for yourself, football head…" Helga explained with a giggle. Arnold shook his head at her in mock annoyance, grabbed her wrists and turned them around, so he was on top of her. "Being in love with you…" he said and let the tip of his nose hit hers. "Don't you think that I am?"

"Hey…" Helga muttered with a slight pout, which quickly turned into a giggle as Arnold kissed her forehead gently. She lifted her face to kiss his wonderful mouth and grabbed his neck with her hands and his body with her legs to pull him closer to her. _This is it…_ They both thought in sheer happiness as they knew… that this would be the moment.

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**Author's 2nd note: Don't worry! This isn't the end! xD (Bet you were worried for a second, eh? *wiggles eyebrows*) Yes! This sex scene is actually so fucking long, that I've already hit my quota of 5.000 words a chapter, and I was like: "Ok… either they'll have to wait for me to finish a REALLY long chapter… or I'll give them more chapters at the usual amount…" Guess what I ended up choosing? xD**

**Anyways! If anyone's curious: My school – I love it, but, man, can I feel that it's been two fucking years since I last had to get up at 6am in the morning '-.- Oh, well, I'll just have to get into the rhythm, I guess xD**

**I promise (I really hope I can promise) that I'll finish this story by the end of this week… But a lot of things is going on at the same time! School, driving test, my birthday, the party to celebrate it and then it's Sunday! Omg xD I'm turning 19 years, so… yeah, gotta celebrate that! Wish me luck with my driving test tomorrow (Thursday) Man, do I hope I don't need luck xD**

**(BTW way too late for me to re-read this – at least according to when I need to get up tomorrow – so be a sweetheart and mention the typos for me, please? xD I'm so lazy at the moment, I had to do homework today too! The first day of school even – FML! xD)**


	42. Because I love you

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**As Helga and Arnold's essence of the love making began to take its course, he admitted to have a girlish fantasy as well. He showered Helga in pink, rose petals, while she admitted to him that while she loved him and his gesture with all her heart, she didn't need such things to make this moment perfect.**_

_**Both blonde teens torture plans were ruined, as they simply couldn't handle the begging of their significant other, and so the love and tension in the air simply became thicker and thicker as Helga experienced her second orgasm this time by the tongue of Arnold. And now, without much else to stop them, they were finally ready to take the big step.**_

**Author's 1st note: Guess who got her driving license in the first try? Me! xD**

**On less happy terms: I got a rather rude review after chapter 40/41, I believe. I'm not sure if this person was being serious or not (if not, then use smileys, damn it, so people don't misunderstand your mood! xD) but I was basically told: "Don't make us wait till the weekend, that'd be rubbish, fuck school." I have one thing to say to that: Uh, **_**no**_**! Are you kidding me? As much as I love writing, then it's a hobby, it can't bring me much money in the future (at least not realistically) so **_**no**_**, not fuck school, I have a life outside this, you know, and dreams for myself. So, no matter how frustrated you might be about having to wait a few days longer, then at least try to be civil about it, would you? -.-**

**All right, on with le love making! xD**

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Chapter 42: "Because I love you"

None of the love-struck teens were quite sure why they kissed for this long. If they were nervous, if they were trying to procrastinate or if they were simply so into such simple kisses that they almost forget what they were supposed to do. But as if thunder had just emerged from a clear sky, Helga felt Arnold prodding against her sex. With a slight gasp, she stopped the kiss and dared to look down towards their stomachs.

"S-Sorry, I didn't mean to…" Arnold said, but then Helga simply smiled up at him, removed a lock of his hair from his face and swung her legs around his waist. "Well, then mean to this time around." She requested with a loving, yet tense smile. As awkward as that conversation had been, then her older sister Olga had snuck in the typical talk of the birds and the bees and even gave her a very detailed description of her own first time. Olga had been with a jerk and it had hurt, but Helga trusted Arnold and knew he wouldn't hurt her. At least not deliberately, but she knew she'd have to expect a bit of pain. Even a lot maybe.

"Ok… how, uh… how would you like me to do this?" Arnold asked with an edge to his voice, also nervous about these first minutes of the lovemaking. He was terrified of hurting Helga, and it just made it all that much worse to know that he couldn't really avoid it. This sort of thing _did_ hurt, and he just hoped she knew of a way to make it less painful.

Helga thought about it for a second before she answered. "I think… it'd be better to just look at this like… ripping off a bandage. Just get this part over with as quick as possible, you know?" she suggested. Arnold's eyes went wide at that; he had hoped to do this slowly, but if she believed it'd hurt less the other way, then he'd obey.

"Ok… t-tell me if you want me to stop, ok?" Arnold begged and intertwined his fingers with Helga's and gently placed their hands next to her head. She smiled at his words and his reassuring squeeze of her hand. She nodded at him, took a deep breath and gently kissed his lips. "Ok… I'm ready." She said gently and closed her eyes with a deep breath.

Arnold gulped, squeezed Helga's hand and did as fast as he possibly could. She had whimpered at the first inches, but actually made a choking sound, when he got all the way in. "Helga?" he asked worriedly, cursing for having done it this way. He could feel her lower abdomen shake at the pain, and her breath was ragging. She gave him a tense smile, but he could see the pain in her eyes. "Ow…" she said teasingly, but then squeezed her eyes shut.

"Do you want me to - - "

"No!" Helga interrupted, just before Arnold actually pulled back. She used her legs to keep him inside of her, and that actually lowered the pain a little. Wondering if her position could make this less painful, she arched her back a little and gasped slightly in pleasure as she managed to hit her g-spot. "This is better…"

"Y-You sure?" Arnold asked, having felt really good at that slight movement, but hadn't dared to move along with Helga. She smiled at him, took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah… Just… g-give me a second, ok?" she begged, which he nodded to instantly. "I wish I could make it better." He said with pleading eyes, hoping for her to tell him what to do. With a loving smile, she lifted her free hand and wrapped her arm around his neck to pull him down to her. He wrapped his free arm beneath her lower back and just held her tightly. "This helps…" she announced weakly and just focused on breathing. He smiled at her words and gently kissed her cheek.

Helga wasn't sure how long she was withholding any movements, but she just couldn't help but adore this gentle butterfly kisses, Arnold placed all over her upper body and face. She wanted to kiss him back so badly, but she just wanted to make the pain go away, so she decided to focus on the pleasure she knew would follow.

Then, finally, all Helga could feel was _him_. No pain, no odd stretching feeling – at least not, in an uncomfortable way – and she smiled at Arnold. "You can move now." She said reassuringly. He looked up at her and gulped a bit. "You… sure?" he asked, truly hoping she wasn't pushing herself. He would hate himself forever, if he knew he had hurt her unnecessarily. She giggled at him and tightened her grip around his hand, neck and waist. "Yes."

Arnold smiled at Helga and laid his lips upon hers, as he slowly moved away from her, and back in again. It hurt her only a tiny bit, but the pleasure was greater than anything else. She noticed how he was studying her every expression, so she smiled lovingly at him and started to nuzzle his hair in her hand.

"God, this feels amazing." Helga reassured Arnold and moaned a bit at that slow, almost frustrating feeling he was giving her through that slow motion. He smiled at her, relieved that she felt good now. "Yeah… c-can I…?" he asked gently, knowing she'd know what he meant. She smiled at him, nodded and removed her hand from his to wrap both her arms around his neck. "Make love to me, Arnold."

Arnold smiled broadly at Helga's words, took a small breath and picked up the speed. She moaned delightfully against his lips and he moaned back against hers. The pace was still slow, both of them still trying to get used to this new feelings. He kept studying her, now mostly because everything she seemed to do, every moan every flinch of her eyes, every ragged motion with her hips, just turned him on all the more.

Like Arnold, Helga couldn't even bring herself to keep her eyes closed. She wanted to see him, to see him look at her with that much adoration and with so much lust, just made her buck even rougher against him. He gasped at her advances towards him and she just kept doing it. "H-Helga, please…" he pleaded with her and put one of his hands on her hips to stop him.

"Why?" Helga asked in confusion, feeling slightly frustrated at being stopped at such a perfect moment. Arnold looked nervously at her though, perhaps a little ashamed, but just gulped before he spoke to her. "Helga…" he said gently and then just smiled so broadly at her, that she could almost feel the tears prick at her eyes. That look… That look she had imagined him looking at her with for so many years, and then it was like she truly realized how he felt for her.

"Helga… I adore you so much… in a way, I always have, and I know that I _always_ will… I care for you, and I want to protect you with every fiber of my being. I… crave being around you and I have wanted this moment for so long… so I… I want it to last forever, really… or at least for as long as we both can handle it." Arnold said with a slight chuckle.

Helga's eyes were wide with awe, as she felt the tears threaten to fall down her cheeks. Hearing Arnold, the boy she had always adored and loved from afar, to tell her that he adored her, wanted to protect her with every fiber of his being… She knew it was only a matter of seconds, before he'd throw some sort of bomb at her and she'd break at the love spreading in her whole body.

Arnold gently laid both of his hands against both of Helga's temples, and held his forehead against his. She noticed, how his eyes were closed and he was just smiling with so much affection, that she knew he wasn't finished speaking at all. _He's going to make me burst… I can feel it._ She thought and tried to prepare herself for what he'd say. _Don't cry… Please, don't cry. No matter what he says: don't… cry._

"I want to… to make love with you forever, _really_… though that's impossible, I guess. I want to feel your arms around me, to feel your kiss and to feel your heart against mine forever… I want _this_ moment… this moment, were we're both as happy as we can be, to last forever… so _please_, I'm begging you… don't try to rush this." Arnold said gently and then laid his cheek against Helga's. "We have all the time in the world… right?"

Then Helga's eyes closed and two tears roll down her cheeks. Arnold opened his eyes gently, as he felt something wet and warm against his cheek. He lifted his head a bit and looked at the girl beneath him, his eyes going wide when he saw her sapphire eyes brimming with tears. "Helga? W-Was it something I said?" he asked her worriedly and went to remove the tear from her cheek, but she brushed his hand away. "Yeah, it was something you said, you sweet idiot!"

Arnold looked at Helga in slight confusion as she lifted one of her hands to cover her eyes. He knew she was a little ashamed at letting him see her cry; she was a proud girl after all, but it didn't stop her from talking to him in a slightly, slurry voice due to her sobbing. "Swee-Sweet idiot… how can I not cry, when the boy I have loved since the moment I saw him, tells me that?" she wondered aloud with a sarcastic chuckle. He gulped at the word 'loved' and felt his heartbeat quicken in anticipation of what she'd say next.

"I love you, Arnold… I've always loved you… You were the first person to ever notice me, even if it was for something as simple as a pink bow, then I kept that bow on me forever, because it reminded me of you… It's a memento, a proof of you having actually complimented me. I've been hopelessly, pathetically in love with you since I first saw you… I adored you, I still do, but I never knew how to show it, because I didn't know what love meant. I didn't have anything to compare to at my home, but now everything's just… coming together. My parents care all of a sudden, I've met Aaron who I've connected with in a way, I never have with my sister… and you love me… right?"

Arnold didn't even know that he had been about to cry, but at that simple question from Helga, he felt a tear run down his right cheek. She removed her hand from her face, when she felt something liquid hit her hand gently and she looked at him in disbelief, when she saw how shiny his eyes were all of a sudden.

"I do…" Arnold answered gently and smiled at Helga, not even realizing that he was crying – even if it was only a little bit. "I really do, Helga, I love you." he said again and caressed her cheek gently, this time removing the former tears from her eyes, though from looking at him crying, new tears just started rolling down her cheeks.

"Are you crying?" Helga asked in both awe and disbelief. Arnold choked a bit on his breath as he tried feeling if he was. Then he smiled a bit, lifted his hand and removed the wet line on his cheek. "I-I guess so…" he admitted with a slightly embarrassed smile, but he wasn't truly shy about it. He was proud honestly. Proud of Helga for being this honest, proud of himself to finally having said the words the both of them had longed for him to hear.

"W-What's the matter with you?" Helga asked in incredulity and smacked Arnold's chest lightly. "W-Why are you crying?" she asked as she sniffed a bit, her own tears still streaming down her eyes. "Y-You're crying too." He pointed out and sniffed as well. "Yeah, but I'm a girl; I'm allowed to!" she answered him childishly and turned to look at him again, rather than this chest.

Without really knowing why, they started laughing gently. They were bickering even at a time like this, and for some reason, that fact just made them unbelievably happy. Arnold laid his forehead against Helga's again, as their laughter slowly went inaudible and they just opened their eyes to look at each other again.

"I love you." they both whispered at the same time, their eyes going a little wide at the fact that they had said it in unison. Helga giggled a little bit. "We're… really sappy… aren't we?" she asked gently and choked a little on the air in her throat. Arnold chuckled at that and let his fingers go through her blonde locks, which were spread all of his pillow. It was the most perfect vision in the entire world.

"After everything we've been through… I'd say we deserve to be." Arnold answered, causing his beloved to giggle beneath him, making her breasts bounce gently against his chest. "… Can I admit something?" she asked and laid the palm of her hands around his neck. He smiled at her and nodded. "All I told you, back at the whole FTI incident… it was all true."

Arnold cocked his head a little to the side, knowing that Helga was talking about her confession, but not about which part of it. She must've been referring to something specific after all. "All of it… th-the stalking… the volumes of books about poetry about you… a-and… a-and even the shrines…" she then admitted nervously and gulped. "Does that… gross you out?"

Arnold was only a little surprised at being questioned so suddenly about that. He simply smiled at her though and shook his head slowly. "There's nothing… _nothing_ you could possibly have done to make me not love you… I _am_ a little curious about the shrines though. How does that work?" he asked curiously.

Helga couldn't believe it; was Arnold insane? He seriously didn't mind? She didn't want to question him and risk anything though, as she simply shrugged at his question. "I stopped doing that after San Lorenzo… th-that counts for the stalking too. It's… It's only the poetry I really held on to." She answered a little embarrassedly.

"How much… How much did you stalk me anyway? I mean… what have you seen or what do you know?" Arnold asked curiously. He noticed how Helga was obviously blushing. _I wonder if something specific is going through her head?_ He smirked a little slyly at her. "Helga… what have you done?" he asked in a mockingly accusing voice.

"Well… l-let's just say that… I know how your vent system works and that you can be trapped behind that stupid couch of yours forever, if you don't have that remote controller." Helga answered a little quickly, hoping for Arnold not to catch on to every detail she had just admitted to him. He did though and his eyes went a little wide. "My vent system…? You mean… you've been crawling through those? Helga! That's dangerous!"

"That's all you've got to say, football head?" Helga asked with disbelief in her voice and on her face. "Well… _that_ and… the couch?" he repeated and turned his head to look towards it. "When were you… behind my couch?" he asked and turned to look at her again, noticing how much she was blushing.

"Ah… re… remember that parrot?" Helga asked and sighed a little nervously. _This is the only story I'll tell him for tonight… I have forever to tell him every other story. Like who Cecile is too…_ She promised herself. Arnold cocked an eyebrow at that question and tried to remember a parrot. "… Oh! That green one that recited… poetry… Oh, my God, that was _yours_?" he asked with a big smile, starting to imagine how much panic that must have been going through her when that thing flew away.

"Well, technically my dad's, but at some point through the night, he put it in my room apparently… a-and I wrote a poem about you during that night, and then the next morning that… fucking bird had remembered _all_ of it. I tried to kill it with a chainsaw and then it flew away." Helga admitted with a pout.

"Helga!" Arnold chastised, but couldn't help but laugh. "You can't seriously wonder why it tried to escape, right?" he asked, hoping for that nod that she gave him. "I know that! But I was scared out of my freaking mind. It just _had_ to go to your house, right? So I… ended up behind your couch." She explained, awaiting for him to pop the big question. If he wasn't too dense to realize that was.

"Oh, man… how long were you trapped back there?" Arnold asked, wondering what it was like behind that couch. "… For the whole night." Helga answered and closed her eyes, waiting for him to be shocked. He blinked a couple of times, as the wheels turned in his head. "The… whole night? From the evening to the morning?" he asked, which she nodded slowly at.

Arnold then blushed. He blushed deeply. "Helga!" he scolded again, this time with obvious embarrassment in his voice. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I-If it's any consolation, then I fainted from happiness from what I saw, when you changed!" she said embarrassedly and tried to hide her face from him. He choked on his own breath at that.

"Th-That's not really… Seriously, you fainted?" Arnold asked in a mix of incredulity, wonder and… a little pride, perhaps. Helga uncovered her face, having her that slight, boyish pride in his voice and nodded. He blinked a couple of times, embarrassed to the very core of his body, before he simply laid his cheek against her chest. He sighed a bit, causing his breath to tickle one of her breasts. She flinched a little at the feeling, and then, it was like she realized what kind of odd conversation they suddenly had going in the middle of… well, _this_.

Arnold realized it too, and his heart begun to beat rapidly again for another reason than his embarrassment. "I can scold you for that later…" he announced and kissed Helga's breast gently. She gasped a little, but couldn't help a small giggle. _Arnold scolding me? How… interesting._ She admitted in her head, and then surrendered to the newly born pleasure.

Arnold closed his eyes and kissed Helga's breast, deliberately avoiding the sensitive nipple in the middle of it. Hey, he wasn't going to scold her now, but he could still punish her a little, right? That small punishment didn't last long though, because he wasn't planning on punishing himself, and he _really_ wanted to finally, really try this.

Arnold lifted himself on his arm and placed his lips around Helga's nipple. She flinched at the ecstatic feeling and moved her hand up to his hair again. He wasn't entirely sure why, but to feel her hand against his scalp calmed him, in a way he didn't know that he could be calmed.

Using the tip of his tongue, Arnold started to circle the nipple beneath him. Helga moaned loudly and started to bite at her lower lip. "Oh, God…" she whispered and gasped a little bit. He smiled a little at that small exclamation and then gently pulled his teeth together around the nipple. She gasped loudly and started involuntarily to pull at the blonde tuffs in his hair. She was trying so very hard to not lose control, she really was, but even her legs started to shake around his waist.

"A-Arnold… can we please continue? _Please_?" Helga begged in such a fragile, begging voice, that Arnold actually had to pull his head up and look at her, to make sure it was still the same girl. It was indeed his Helga, begging for him to make love to her. He smiled at her and then pulled out once and in again, causing her to gasp loudly. "Yes, ma'am." He answered teasingly, which made her roll her eyes for a second, but for only a second, since he then really started to move inside of her.

Arnold didn't really know, why he loved the feeling of Helga's hands in his head to this extend, but it could almost make him cum at the spot, if she continued that. Looking at her moaning like that, her body coiling beneath him in absolute desire, it was the greatest pleasure he could imagine.

Helga then opened her eyes, smiled at Arnold and lifted her arms above his neck. "Can you pull me up?" she asked in a whisper. He had to stop for a second, just to catch his breath, and then he pulled her up with a smile, making sure to stay inside of her as he did so.

Both blondes gasped at the new feeling of Helga sitting on top of Arnold on her knees. "This feels… really different." She observed with a slight pant, feeling some sweat trickle down her throat. "Y-Yeah…" he answer with some heavy breathing and looked at her with half-lidded eyes. Without a word, she slowly moved up and then down, mostly just trying to feel how different it was.

They both gasped a bit, as Helga slowly continued trying to find a fitting pace and a steady rhythm. Arnold placed one of his hands on her thigh and the other on her hip. He kept her steady as they both managed to move themselves in harmony, finding that rhythm they had been searching for. It wasn't surprising how quickly they found it; they were already in harmony in so many other ways, why would this be any different?

When Helga let her head fall backwards, exposing her chest and throat a little more, Arnold moved his mouth to her throat and started kissing it hungrily. She moaned loudly at the feeling and started to knead his scalp a little at he feeling. They pulled each other closer, never losing that rhythm they had so perfectly going, as if they had done this a million times before.

Both Arnold and Helga knew that it couldn't go on much longer; they didn't even have to say anything. She whipped her head back up again, placed her hands on his chest and banged him down against the matrass. He gasped for a second, but simply grabbed ahold of her hips again and continued the rhythm.

Arnold started to slam himself up inside Helga and she gasped every time he did it. With a predatory grin, she grabbed his hands, intertwined her fingers in his and placed them dominantly on each side of his head. It turned him on. Boy, did it turn him on! She was a dominant girl, and he knew it and loved it.

Helga moved a little closer to Arnold's face, still smiling hungrily at him and it was almost like her eyes were laughing at him for trying to kiss her in this state. Eventually, she did grant him a kiss though, and their tongues had never quite danced like this together. It was hungrily, almost primal even and eventually they had to let go of each other to be able to breathe.

"A-Arnold!" Helga gasped with a whimper, as she felt herself reaching her climax. Arnold didn't even have to ask her, he was actually sure that he could feel her starting to tighten around him. It felt wonderful, and he knew they would even do this in unison as well. "Helga!" he exclaimed as well and tightened his grip around her hands, as she did as well.

Then everything almost went dark for the both of them. With some heavy gasps, perhaps even screams, their eyes rolled back in their heads and they shook erratically. Helga gasped a couple of times, as Arnold tried to find the ability to breath once again. She slowly fell down on top of him and he sneaked his hands out of her much loosened ones to wrap his arms around her waist.

Helga and Arnold kept breathing heavily into each other's ears and it took them almost several minutes, before they calmed down. With one slow breath, Helga slowly lifted herself off Arnold and collapsed down next to him lazily, feeling like she had just run a marathon.

Arnold opened his eyes slowly to look at the gasping girl next to him, who still hadn't opened her eyes. With an adoring smile, he used the last of his strength to grab the covers and pull them over the both of them. She opened her eyes, when she felt the soft fabric slide over her naked form and then just smiled at him. "Gallant as ever, I see." She observed with a tired smile. He smirked at her and moved a little closer to her. "That's not gonna change… ever." he answered and laid his arm over her hip.

With a small, very exhausted giggle, Helga pulled her lower arm in-between their chests and the other one over his shoulders. "Please don't change… ever." she begged as she slowly started to be able to inhale the air around her again. "I won't… if you promise not to change either." Arnold answered as he snaked his arm beneath her head, providing her a pillow.

"Really? You don't want me to change? Not even a little bit?" Helga asked in slight wonder, though she could feel her eyelids going heavy at this point. "No… well, no, that's not true…" Arnold then admitted, causing her tired eyes to narrow a bit in surprise. "I want you to have a little more confidence… being the amazing person that you are, then I still can't believe how little you think of yourself." he explained, which caused her to blush a bit.

Helga sighed a bit at the very Arnold like request. "All right… I'll try… I know that I can with you by my side." She answered as she played with a lock of his hair in her fingers. He smiled at the very calming feeling that gave him. "Then I guess I'll have to be by your side forever, huh?" he asked with mock annoyance and sighed.

Helga giggled and gently pushed at Arnold's shoulder. "Yes, you can't get rid of me now, football head. You're stuck with me forever." She answered and snuggled closer to him, ready to fall into a deep sleep at this point. "You promise that?" he asked her gently. "Hmm…" she muttered, not really hearing what he was saying anymore. "Because, you know… at some point in the future, there _is_ going to be one thing I'd like to change about you…"

Helga didn't hear what Arnold was saying, nor did that really matter to him. He had to say these words aloud, even if it was only to promise himself to truly ask her this question in the future. "We're not talking tonight… and we're not talking tomorrow, next month, not even next year…" he said gently and kissed her forehead as he closed his eyes. "… but at some point, I want to ask you to change… your surname… and take mine instead. I want you to be a proper part of my family… and I want you to feel like you belong here… with me… because I love you."

And with this spoken vow, Arnold fell asleep, as he cradled his fiancé-to-be in his arms.

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: Not the last chapter either… The next one will be about the morning after and the goodbyes and such :P Can you feel from my text that I'm tired? So very… **_**very**_** tired. I can't re-read this, seriously… It's a miracle I even managed to finish it within such few hours. Be happy, please, I'm really struggling with **_**a lot**_** all of a sudden xD I'm not just talking school :P A lot happened in this one fucking week xD Luckily the driving lessons are over, so my stress level should go down quite a bit just from that. Goodnight… I need to wake up again in six hours… xD (Yes, I'm pitying myself, I'm allowed to! xD)**


	43. Because I love you, remember?

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

**They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

**Title: "Blackmail toy"**

**In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": **_**Arnold's greatest fear at this point was to hurt Helga, which unfortunately was inevitable. Despite the pain she without a doubt felt, he managed to calm her down and soon they found a rhythm in their first lovemaking.**_

_**To Helga's frustration though, Arnold stopped them in the middle of it. She was touched to tears though, when he gave her the proper love declaration he had promised her, and they cried together out of sheer happiness, before they feel in love in each other's arms.**_

_**Arnold did collect enough courage to whisper to the sleeping Helga, that if there ever was something he'd want to change about her in the future… it'd be her surname.**_

**Author's 1st note: … It's called an intense education. **_**That**_**'s my excuse for this to take so bloody long.**

* * *

Chapter 43: "Because I love you…. remember?"

It was quite an unusual feeling. A really unique sensation to wake up next to the person you loved. The person you had loved through your whole life even. It couldn't really be described; especially not on this particular morning when it wasn't _only_ waking up next to the person you were planning to spend the rest of your life with. It was even the morning after having made love for the first time.

Arnold's eyelids fluttered open slowly. His body felt somehow light and yet… there was a heavy feeling keeping him down to the ground. With a small yawn, he then opened his eyes completely. In front of him, half blocking his vision of the wall in front of him, where some blonde curls. With a smile, he remembered everything so perfectly clearly and he started to nuzzle his nose in the gold hair.

Arnold earned a small whimper in return and the hair beneath his chin moved a bit. It tickled, it really did, but he didn't feel like laughing at all. Smiling, oh, yes, _smiling_ like a fool perhaps, but not laugh. He was so happy that he wasn't capable of laughing really. All he could do was just sigh with a goofy smile.

Helga yawned loudly all of a sudden. Her eyes, which were laid against Arnold's neck, started to flutter open and tickle him in the process. He pulled away gently to look at into those beautiful, azure eyes of hers. "Good morning…" he whispered as he waited for the girl in front of him to wake up. She stirred a little bit as her eyes opened slowly. It seemed like it took her a couple of seconds before she fully understood who was in front of her, and then she just smiled broadly. "Good morning."

"Did you sleep well?" Arnold asked and started to caress the back of Helga's head a bit. She smiled at him. "Like a baby in love." She answered and snuggled closer to him with some quick movements, causing him to laugh at the somewhat childish action. He just pulled her up on his body though, making her lie on his naked form. None of them really seemed shy at this point. It felt so right to just float on their own cloud 9 right now.

Helga intertwined her fingers, laid her hands on Arnold's chest and put her chin on them. They just kept gazing at each other like that. "I still can't believe it…" Arnold declared as his arms also rested against her lower back. "What?" she asked with a small sigh, knowing exactly what he was talking about. He moved one of his hands to caress her cheek a bit, still feeling rather dazed after having just woke up. "_This_… You. Us. Everything."

"You're a man of few words, Arnold." Helga said teasingly, put her hands on the mattress and slid herself across Arnold's body to kiss his lips. _A morning kiss…_ They both thought with an inaudible sigh and just kept kissing like that for a few seconds, just enjoying this total bliss of silence and worship.

"Helga…" Arnold inquired as they slowly broke apart. "Yes…" she answered before she started to kiss him again. She kept on kissing him, not giving him a chance to speak, so he had to grab her shoulders and pull her away a little bit. "Can I… ask you something?" he asked gently, causing her to blink a little in surprise. "Man, way to ruin the mood, football head." She answered with a sigh, but then smiled at him. "Ok. Shoot."

"Besides with the parrot… when have you been in my room?" Arnold asked curiously. He had never ever experienced thinking that someone was in his room with him, unless they had been invited of course. He was just curious to where Helga had been hiding and _why_. Her eyes went a little wide at the question, but then she sighed again.

Helga gave a pensive face. "Let me see… The first time I was in your room was in fourth grade, when you got ahold of one of my pink books. I… was hiding in your closet all that time and didn't get out until next morning when you had left." She answered. Arnold's eyebrow quirked. "So… you saw me and Gerald trying to figure out who it was who was writing me poetry?"

"Yup. Speaking of which; thanks for laughing when you came across _my_ name on that stupid list of yours." Helga said with a slight scowl. Arnold gulped instantly, suddenly remembering that very hysteric laughter he and Gerald had been in at the time. "S-Sorry…" he said nervously, but she just shrugged. "Don't sweat it. It _was_ kinda the reaction I wanted people to have, if they ever thought I'd write poetry."

"Well, not anymore. I wanna read what you write from now on." Arnold said resolutely. "What? But…" Helga said in surprise, but then closed her mouth. She bit at her lower lip as he kept looking at her, hoping for her to give in. In the end, she gave another sigh and nodded with a small smile. "All right, all right, you'll get your weekly ego boost."

"Weekly?" Arnold repeated in surprise. "I'm not giving you a poem every day, bucko!" Helga said mockingly, which just made his eyes pop open. "Every day? You write enough to actually do that?" he asked in incredulity. She felt a little shy about having to admit this to him, but forced herself to do it nevertheless. "Well… I don't _write_ every day, but I write enough of them to cover every day."

"Whoa… I'll… I'll look forward to read them." Arnold said with a loving smile, which Helga just rolled her eyes at. "You wanna know when else I've been in your room?" she asked, actually finding that topic rather funny at this point. The parrot incident was after all the most embarrassing one.

"Yes, ma'am!" Arnold answered with a big smile. Helga just shook her head in amusement, and then thought about it for a second. "Well, let's see… There was… Oh, right! I, ugh… Don't laugh, ok?" she begged, knowing he wouldn't be able to keep his promise. "Sure." He said with a smile, also knowing he might not be able to keep that promise, though he wanted to.

"I… Once I went to the dentist and he gave me some laughing gas. Du-During the time I was drugged, even after the procedure, I went to the phone in the lobby and called you, telling you… well, that I loved you… I broke into your house and had to get rid of that stupid message!" Helga answered with a slight frown.

Arnold seemed just pensive though. "Did I… Did I see you?" he asked, which just caused her to frown in confusion. "Uh… Oh, yeah, you had the boys over and you all saw me… Why didn't you react to that anyway?" she asked with a cocked eyebrow. "I think we were in so much shock that we just chose to ignore it or something?" he suggested with a chuckle.

"Boys." Helga declared as she rolled her eyes. "Hey! _You_'re the one who broke into my house just to get rid of that message!" Arnold scolded teasingly. "What did you expect me to do? Just leave it at that and hope to get hit by a truck before you could find me and tell me how crazy I was?" she suggested with furrowed eyebrows. "Maybe I would've realized I was in love with you too." He answered stubbornly, though he could easily imagine fainting rather than that. At least at that age.

"Yeah, right! Sure, Arnold, that's sweet, but we both know that wouldn't have happened… Now, wanna hear about the last time I was at your house?" Helga asked, which Arnold of course nodded at in response. "Ok… this one's a little… Uh… M-Maybe I should just show you." she decided and grabbed one of the covers to wrap herself in it.

As Helga stood up, Arnold covered himself up a little bit too. He couldn't help but notice how elegant she looked, just wrapped in a cover like that. It almost looked like a toga or something. She went to her bag and pulled out a golden chain with a heart-shaped locket attached to it. He looked curiously at it, while she sat down next to him.

"I don't know if you ever noticed me wearing this?" Helga asked and held it in front of Arnold's face. He lifted his hand and grabbed it gently to look at it. He tried to remember her wearing something this feminine, but no, he couldn't remember seeing this whatsoever. However… there was _something_ oddly familiar about it.

"No. Have you been hiding it or something?" Arnold asked gently. Helga nodded. "Yeah, I bought this one when I hit puberty. The old one was way too big to hide when I started to grow." She answered, causing him to look at her chest for a second, but only for a second, since the locket really did have most of his attention. "Your old one? You mean, you've had a bigger version of this golden, heart-shaped locket at some point?"

"Yeah… through most of my childhood actually. That one back then wasn't solid gold, so it got rusty from time to time, so I had to change it, of course, but this one is the same one I bought when I was 13 years old." Helga answered and couldn't help but gaze a little at the image in front of her; Arnold, holding _her_ locket. She wondered how he would react to this part of her confession spree, though she was pretty sure he'd react pretty calmly about it. This part was obviously less intimidating than the 'breaking-and-entering' part.

"Can I… open it?" Arnold asked as he kept studying the locket. _Where have I seen this before? A bigger version… golden, heart-shaped locket… A serious bell is ringing, but it's like something's missing…_ He kept thinking until he heard Helga give him permission to open it. He gently took ahold of it and attempted to open it.

Helga watched him in amusement, as Arnold struggled to open the locket. "Criminy! You couldn't figure out how to open it back then either." She declared with a laugh and grabbed the locket from his hand. She opened it easily and gazed at it a little. "Must be a boy thing." She decided and then showed him the picture inside of it.

Arnold's eyes went wide when he saw himself smiling back at him in the small picture in Helga's locket, but mostly his cheeks just went red. "I remember now… th-the locket my grandpa had… That was yours?" he asked, without looking away from the locket for even a second. "Yeah… I dropped it, your pig stole it and then your grandma gave it to Phil. It was a nightmare to get it back. Worst part was that I had it engraved that very same day with my name on it and everything, so if you had gotten it open, you would've figured out everything."

"Whoa… you really need to be more careful." Arnold observed and started to chuckle. "Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Helga asked with a red tint on her cheeks and closed the locket in her hand. "Come on!" he exclaimed and started to stretch his fingers, one after the other. "You lose your poetry book, leave me a love confession on my phone, let a parrot hear one of your poems about me, carry around a locket with my picture in it _signed_ by yourself _and_ you let my cousin of all people find out about your feelings for me. Either you're really unlucky or it's karma."

Helga pouted a little as Arnold listed all those incidents aloud, but mostly she could definitely appreciate the comedy in it. "Don't forget telling Lila about my feelings for you, just so I could play Juliet back in fourth grade." She added with a smile, which made him gulp in surprise. "What? So… Wait a second… Was it because of you all _four _girls didn't wanna play Juliet?"

Helga started whistling innocently, which just made Arnold scowl at her teasingly. "Helga…" he chastised with a big smile. "What? Rhonda didn't wanna play Juliet because of the costume, Sheena didn't wanna because of all the violence, Phoebe got a case of stage fright and Lila… well, Lila's a sucker." She answered. "Helga!" he chastised again. "All right, all right, I kinda like her… _now_." She corrected with a smile, but she knew that wasn't what he meant. "_And_ I might have intentionally been blowing a little to the girls' fears."

Arnold just shook his head in amusement and started to chuckle. "You really are amazing, you know." He observed, grabbed her hand and made her open it, so he could observe the locket. Then he let his eyebrow quirk and looked at her curiously. "Tell me… where do you get pictures of me anyway?"

Helga looked a little surprised at the question, but then just narrowed her eyes mischievously and leaned a little closer to Arnold. "That's _my_ little secret." She answered with a gleeful smirk. "That's not fair!" he announced with a disbelieving grin. "When have I ever played fair?!" she asked in incredulity and grabbed his wrists. With one swift movement, she went to straddle him and thereby uncovered most of her body.

Arnold felt his heart bang against his ribcage, when he noticed certain marks on Helga's upper body. She cocked her head to the side curiously. "What's wrong?" she asked, but then noticed in which direction he was staring. She frowned a little; he had already seen everything, so why would he get shy at this point?

Helga looked down her body and then her eyes popped open. Almost all over her body, were tiny, red marks. _Hickeys?!_ She thought in disbelief and looked at Arnold. "Arnold!" she scolded playfully, but his face just went scarlet red as he kept staring at her. "I'm sorry! I-I didn't even realize that I - - "

Helga's lips covering his own interrupted Arnold. He gasped in her mouth, but knew that he wouldn't get away with something like that so easily. If he knew her correctly… she'd have revenge. One way or another.

Helga removed her lips from Arnold with a small, sensual smack and then let her mouth to his collarbone immediately. She started sucking near it and used her teeth to pull the flesh. He gasped at the intense feeling, which was painful and yet pleasurable. "H-Helga!" he begged, but didn't truly want her to stop.

Arnold wriggled his wrists a little bit, but Helga's grip around them just tightened, and he gave up on his mission to escape. Rather than that, he could feel his body start to react at her advances towards him, and she was way too close to his crotch not to notice. She even seemed like she was about to comment it… until a noise interrupted them.

"You think they're up yet?" a female voice asked with a slight giggle. Arnold and Helga stopped to stare at each other. "Naw, they're probably sleeping peacefully together like at the hospital." A male voice answered just before the door opened. "Mom! Dad!" Arnold scolded and instantly grabbed ahold of the covers to cover Helga up, who was just staring at his parents over her shoulder.

"Oh, we're sorry! We were so sure th-that - - "

"Get out!" Arnold pleaded, his cheeks reddening even more at the second. "Yes! Of course!" Stella answered with a robotic sound in her voice and turned around in the doorframe. "C-Come down when you want to have breakfast." Miles said quickly before he closed the door behind him and joined his wife in walking down the stairs, both of them having similar blushing faces.

Rather than feeling embarrassed, Helga just started laughing, which made Arnold frown a little bit. "You sure love seeing me get embarrassed, huh?" he wondered aloud with a slight pout. "You only _just_ realized?" she asked before she swung her leg away from his waist and stepped out of the bed. He just sighed a little happily, since he was actually just happy to see that she was that comfortable around his parents.

"_But_," Helga said as she grabbed her panties from the floor and started to pull them on. "all things considered I do feel a little bad for you, so I'll of course come down with you to help you." she finished with a smile over her shoulder. Arnold cocked his head to the side. "Sure, _now_ you plan helping me." He observed with a smirk, which just earned him a pair of thrown boxers to his face from her. "How rude!" she scolded mockingly and giggled.

As Arnold pulled on his boxers, Helga went towards her small bag to retrieve a bra she had brought along. She figured she wouldn't want to wear the nightgown again the morning after, so she had planned a little ahead. When her bra was on, she dared to turn her head around a bit and look at Arnold. He was standing near the bed and had just pulled his jeans on.

"Stop!" Helga begged and put her hands up for effect. Arnold stopped moving as he let the shirt in his hand hang closely to the floor. "What's wrong?" he asked curiously, as he noticed the slightly girlish grin on her face. "I have another girlish fantasy, Arnold." She said while she strode towards him. He arched his back a little, as he looked at her in wonder. "_Another_? Well, all right then; what is it?"

Helga started biting at her lower lip as a huge grin was still formed on her face. She grabbed the collar of Arnold's shirt and snuck it out of his hand. With his eyebrows furrowed, he watched her as she swung it behind her back. His eyes popped open, when he realized that she was going to wear his shirt. When she had finished putting it on – leaving a few of the top buttons open so reveal a little cleavage – she turned around to look at herself in the mirror. She couldn't help but giggle a lot inwardly, and a little on the outside as well.

"Man, this shirt is way bigger than I had expected. You have a bigger torso than I first thought, Arnoldo." Helga observed teasingly and shook her upper body a little for effect. When she turned to look at him, she noticed an intense blush on his cheeks. "Arnold?" she asked a little worriedly, but that just made him blush all the more. "What's wrong, football head?"

Arnold didn't answer, but just simply sat down on the bed behind him with a gulp. "I think that… without me knowing… that might have been a fantasy of mine too." He explained as he couldn't remove his gaze from Helga. She blushed at his comment, but mostly just felt really light-headed inside. He started chuckling a bit, finally getting used to the weird happiness that come from her wearing his shirt. "I'm gonna think of you every time I put it on now."

Helga giggled again, took a couple of steps towards her boyfriend and leaned forward with her hands intertwined behind her back. "I guess I'll just have to wear every single one of your shirts then." She said teasingly, gave him a gently peck on the tip of his nose and grabbed his hands. "Well, come on! Let's eat; I'm starving."

"I still need to get dressed, Helga." Arnold said as she pulled him up. "Oh, no, you don't. You're in your own home, Arnold, don't tell me they've never seen you with your shirt off?" she asked with an eyebrow quirked. "Well, s-sure, but… n-not while I had my girlfriend over and with her wearing _my_ shirt!" he answered while she pulled him towards his door.

"It'll be fine! If anything, the boarders will be proud of ya." Helga said, hoping that Arnold would continue to forget about the small hickey she had placed near his collarbone. "Their teasing will never end!" he answered though, stopping her from walking any further before she reached the door. She gave a small sigh, pulled on her best pout and puppy eyes and turned around. He almost felt all air go out of him as she looked at him with such begging eyes.

Arnold then groaned deeply before he smiled at Helga. "You're gonna be the death of me, you know…" he observed, but couldn't help but chuckle at how happy he had obviously just made her. "Naw, they just have to get used to it, right?" she asked with a big smile as she opened the door. He sighed happily at that and then wrapped his arms around her waist, giving her a sideways hug. "Yeah…" he answered happily before he placed his warm lips on her moist ones and gave her a loving kiss.

"You're not getting out of this." Helga announced mockingly, as she felt Arnold's hand go towards her chest. "Oh, man!" he said in mock annoyance while she started to pull him with her down the stairs. As the two teens walked towards the dining room, they could hear the other boarders talking. "You think they'll ever come down?" Ernie asked with a chuckle. "Fine with me; that means more food for me!" Oskar answered, earning a smack on the back of his head from Susie. "Ow! I mean for _all_ of us."

"Too bad, Oskar, but we're already here." Arnold announced, only feeling slightly embarrassed, as he appeared together with Helga, holding her hand. It made him relax to know that she was there with him, at least feeling a little embarrassed too. No way was she 100 % comfortable with this; that was hard to imagine.

And indeed; Helga _did_ feel slightly nervous. This was the first time the boarders would ever see her quite like this, and she wasn't just thinking about being Arnold's girlfriend. They had never seen her barelegged; Aaron, Stella, Miles, Phil and Gertie being the exceptions from last night, but as she grabbed the hem of Arnold's shirt, she felt more relaxed.

"Good morning, you two." Susie greeted politely and couldn't help but admire the sudden, obvious beauty in Helga. She knew she had become quite pretty through the years, but seeing her with such a happy smile and her hair let down, curled and a little disheveled; she was a natural beauty. "Yeah, good morning! Now, we can eat!" Oskar chimed in, earning disbelieving shakes of the head from some people in the room.

Without further ado, Arnold simply pulled at Helga's hand to make her join him at the table. For a second, he felt like pulling the chair out of her, but figured that might have made her more embarrassed than anything else at the moment, all things considered. The two teens sat down next to each other, letting their hands stay intertwined on the table, almost in a demonstrative way.

"Did you two have fun last night, Kimba?" Gertie asked rather innocently, though they all knew that she was thinking the same thing as them. Both Arnold and Helga stopped breathing at that second; both wondering what would be the best way to answer such a question. "Pookie, leave the poor kids alone!" Phil said, coming to their rescue. _Oh, thank God._ Both teens thought gratefully and smiled a little at each other.

"They had a lot of fun according to Arnold's chest." Aaron couldn't help but add though. Arnold frowned in confusion at him, which caused Helga to look away from him and at Aaron. She just gave him a mockingly scolding look, but had a hard time not laughing doing so. "He doesn't know, does he?" Aaron asked in a whisper. She shook her head. "Doesn't have a clue." She answered and snickered with him.

Arnold just cocked his head to the side as the whole table seemed to be snickering about something, which he couldn't figure out what was. "Could someone enlighten me about what the heck you're laughing about?" he asked, though he had a feeling he wouldn't get an answer, as they all just kept snickering.

Helga started to feel a little bad for Arnold though, and decided to join him in the embarrassment. It was the least she could do after all these years of having humiliated him in countless ways. "Arnold, remember what you found on _my_ neck this morning?" she asked him innocently, though she could feel her heart start a small marathon in her chest.

Arnold furrowed his eyebrows slightly, trying to remember what Helga was referring too. Then, as if struck by lightning, his whole face went as red as blood and his hand automatically went straight to where she had kissed him earlier. "Helga!" he scolded embarrassed, but that just made everyone in the room laugh aloud.

Even though Helga felt embarrassed within an inch of her life, she knew that this was probably one of the happiest moments of her life. She was comfortable around everyone around her, she had just made love with Arnold and she could've sworn he had asked her to marry him in her dream last night. Life couldn't be better.

* * *

"Well, Helga, would you like to join us today?" Stella asked with a smile while she and the rest pf the people around the table were collecting the plates. Helga looked at her curiously. "Joining you? Sorry, I'm not following." She admitted as she went towards the kitchen with her, knowing that the two cousins were right behind her. "We're going to drive Aaron to the train station. I was wondering if you'd like to come with and say goodbye?" Stella explained, putting her plate next to the sink.

Helga turned her head around to look at the boys behind her. They both smiled at her, encouraging her to come along with them. "Well, sure." She answered then with a smile, which she noticed the boys smiled broadly at. _I swear, I'm surrounded…_ She thought a little happily, realizing she was slightly sad at seeing Aaron go, even after all the things that had happened.

"Then you and Arnold go up and get changed, ok? We'll leave in a couple of minutes. Aaron, you have packed, right?" Stella asked. "Of course. My luggage is in the hallway already." Aaron answered as he pointed towards the hallway with his thumb. "Come on, Helga." Arnold requested with a smile and grabbed her hand as soon as she had put the plate down. She stumbled a bit as she was pulled along with him in his eagerness, but she giggled happily nevertheless.

"Remember, Arnold, only a couple of minutes!" Phil reminded him, causing both of the blonde teens to smile a little shyly at each other. "Yeah, yeah!" they answered in unison as they ran up the stairs, not really caring how obvious the teasing had become. "Aw, they don't even care anymore!" Phil announced unhappily, which just made the couple laugh even louder.

"I really do love your family, you know." Helga stated as she and Arnold walked into his room. He couldn't help but smile broadly at that. "Yeah?" he asked which she nodded at. She noticed how his smile just got brighter and brighter at the second, and she cocked her head a little to the side in wonder. "Why does that make you _this_ happy?" she asked while she grabbed a pair of black jeans in her bag.

"Huh? Oh, uh…" Arnold lifted his hand to scratch his neck shyly. "N-No reason." He answered, though Helga obviously didn't buy it. "Oh, all right. You're just randomly getting really happy just because I love your family and you get all shy when I question you about it. No apparent reason for that." she announced mockingly, but a look from him made her smile again. "Oh, ok, ok. I guess you can have _one_ little secret."

"It's not a secret… It's a… surprise for later." Arnold corrected while he grabbed a white shirt from inside his closet. Helga stopped moving when her jeans had reached her waist and she looked curiously at him. "A surprise for… later? How much later?" she asked. He started to pull on his shirt as he looked slightly pensive, but then just smiled at her. "We're talking _years_, I think." He answered.

"You think?!" Helga repeated with a laugh. "Well, all right. As long as it's not some big secret." She declared and grabbed a belt from her bag. Arnold watched her curiously, as she rather than putting the belt around her jeans – where they belonged – she wrapped it beneath her chest, causing the shirt to tug in at that area.

"You're… You're wearing that outside?" Arnold asked shyly, though he really didn't want Helga to change. She looked amazing in something like that. It was almost like a combination of her usual style mixed with… well, in a way _his_ style. She turned to look at him and then at herself in the mirror. "Does it look weird?" she wondered aloud, but he just shook his head violently. "No! That's not why. I just… I guess I still feel a little shy about you wearing my shirt."

Helga smiled at that and blushed a bit. "I feel shy too, but it's just been a fantasy of mine for so long, so… I hope you can cope with it a little longer." She answered as she went towards the door. _Trust me; coping isn't the problem here…_ Arnold answered inside his head and went to join her downstairs.

* * *

"Goodbye, Aaron. Say hello to my brother from me." Miles said with a big smile as he hugged Aaron at the platform. "Yes, I will. Thank you for letting me stay." Aaron answered while he went to hug Stella as well. "You're welcome, honey, we hope you enjoyed staying here." She said as she hugged him. "Oh, I _did_." He answered with a slight wink in Helga's direction. She rolled her eyes dramatically and smiled at Arnold, who smiled back.

"Have a safe trip home, Aaron!" Phil said a little loudly, giving Aaron a loud smack on his back, causing the teen to stumble forward a little. "Yeah, thanks, grandpa. Take good care of grandma, would you?" he requested with a smile, hoping for the pain in his back to subside quickly. "Ha! She can take care of herself! If anything, she'll be the one to take care of me." Phil answered, gave a wink in Arnold and Helga's direction and laughed.

While Arnold blushed, Helga looked at him curiously. "What was that about?" she asked in a whisper. "I, uh… I'll tell you that story later." He answered, letting her notice how big his smile suddenly got. She shrugged and decided to let it go for now, but they sure did have a lot of stories to tell each other. She still hadn't mentioned Cecile yet either.

"Well, goodbye now, Simba! I hope you'll have a safe trip back to Africa!" Gertie announced happily, causing Helga to start snickering. "Simba?" she repeated with a smile. "I'm Kimba, so I guess that makes Aaron Simba?" Arnold suggested and gave a shrug to Aaron, who just shook his head in amusement. "But that doesn't make any…" she started, but then just waved her hand dismissively. "Never mind."

"Well! We'll leave you kids to say goodbye. We'll be waiting for you two to come back, Arnold." Miles said and laid his arm over Stella's shoulders. Arnold nodded in agreement and watched as his parents and grandparents went through the platform. "You're lucky to be living with them, Arnold." Aaron said with a smile and went a little closer to his cousin. Arnold nodded. "Yeah, I know."

Helga couldn't help but smile at the two smiling boys next to her. All things considered, she was happy that this whole blackmail thing hadn't made their relationship sour. Not even she had a grudge against Aaron anymore. Now that she thought about it… if he hadn't been there, she couldn't help but wonder if she and Arnold would even be together now.

"What are you smiling about?" Arnold asked curiously, causing Helga to shake her head to get out of her thoughts. "Oh! I was just… You know, it's really ironic… when Aaron first found out about my feelings for you, to me, it was probably the worst thing that could ever have happened… Now, it's almost as if that's what brought us together in the first place." She answered with a tense smile, noticing how insane that sounded.

"You sure made it hard for me to get you two together, that's for sure." Aaron answered as he crossed his arms. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm really difficult, I…" Helga answered, but then stopped talking altogether. She blinked a couple of times, before she frowned in confusion and lifted her head to look at Aaron, who just smiled nonchalantly at her. She didn't say anything, but just kept staring at him as if that would make him explain what he had just said. _N-No way… There's no way that all this time, all he was trying to do was…_

"Well, it's been fun being here, you guys. I think my train will be here in five minutes or something, so maybe we should say our goodbyes now?" Aaron suggested and grabbed Arnold's shoulder, who – just like Helga – was looking a little pensively at him. "Uh, yeah." He answered and decided to leave this odd confession in the back of his mind for the next minutes. He lifted his arms and went to hug his cousin. "I hope I'll see you soon."

"Yeah, me too. Hillwood is a lot more fun than I had imagined. Then again, that might be thanks to Helga." Aaron answered with a chuckle and let go of Arnold, who couldn't do anything else than nod in agreement. Yeah, Hillwood was definitely more fun with Helga around. Helga herself, was still trying to wrap her mind around what Aaron had just said and barely noticed when a pair of arms were spread in front of her. "Earth to Helga!"

Helga then shook her head when she heard her name being said. She opened her eyes and noticed a pair of mulatto colored arms in front of her, Aaron being the owner of them. For a second, she was confused, since she was still trying to figure out what he had meant by his statement earlier, but then just rolled her eyes in relinquishment and went inside his arms.

Helga was completely enveloped in Aaron's arm as she felt him rock her gently from side to side. _I really do consider him an older brother… Sorry, Aaron, but I do._ She thought with a slight smile and wrapped her arms around his waist. She opened her eyes to smile at Arnold, who smiled back. She could see in his eyes that he was only a little envious of the gentle gesture between them, but not enough to even feel the least bit angry.

"Ok, enough mushiness!" Helga declared, when she noticed that Arnold may have started to think that this hug was taking a little too long after all. She thought it was adorable; him, even considering that she'd might have eyes for anyone else but him, but she figured she wouldn't try her luck with making him jealous, as amusing as the idea was.

Helga pushed herself away from Aaron with a big smile, noticing that he was smiling back at her the same way she was smiling at him. "Speaking of mushiness, I wonder if you two will ever _not_ be mushy?" Aaron asked as he let go of her. "Huh?" Arnold muttered in slight bewilderment as he went to stand next to them.

"Yeah… I mean, with just the way you two are _looking_ at each other, it could give anyone cavities!" Aaron explained teasingly, causing the two blondes to blush a little. "See! Blushing at _our_ age. You guys are still gonna be like that when you're 30 years old and married, I'll bet. It almost makes me regret helping you two to get together."

"M-Ma…" Arnold stuttered with big eyes, his blush only getting deeper at that. "Wait a second!" Helga interrupted with a slight frown and pointed accusingly at Aaron. "So you _were_ helping us get together?" she asked, still haven't forgotten about his small confession from before. Rather than answering her, Aaron just took a step closer to her. "By the way, Helga, if you for some crazy reason suddenly decide that Arnold's not good enough for you…" he said as he pushed his hand into his pocket.

"You're totally avoiding my question!" Helga said with slight anger in her voice, before Aaron pulled out a small, white card from his pocket. "Call me." He said, opened her hand and placed the card in it. She eyed it curiously. The black ink on it told her Aaron's full name and his number. "See you." he said teasingly, turned around, grabbed his luggage and then started walking away from them.

Arnold and Helga just stood there, completely dumbfounded. "He did that just to annoy me!" Arnold announced in infuriation. Helga thought subconsciously that he was probably right, but she didn't have it in her to think of anything else than _one_ thing at that moment. "He did all that to help me."

"Huh?" Arnold muttered and turned his head to look at Helga, who kept staring into the thin air. "He blackmailed me… to get me to confess to you. All those things he made me do! Wearing a skirt, he knew I liked, forcing me to join you guys at the party, making me think I was under the influence of aphrodisiac, making me give you a poem… It was all just to make us get together!" she announced in pure disbelief and then just started laughing. It was all so messed up all of a sudden. She had joked with Aaron about it even, and then it turned out to be the truth!

Arnold couldn't help but frown a little at Helga's sudden happiness over something Aaron had done, and he definitely couldn't forget the fact that she now had his number. "Well… what are you gonna do with that?" he asked as he pointed towards the card. "Huh?" she muttered and looked at it. "Oh. Well, I don't have much use for it. I mean, if I ever wanted to contact him, I could just ask you."

"Then get rid of it." Arnold ordered with slight irritation in his voice. Helga's head whipped up, looking at him in incredulity. "What?! Now, Arnold, that's pretty mean, coming from you and everything." She observed as a small smile started to tuck at the corner of her mouth. "I don't care! Throw it out! Give it to me! Burn it!" he ordered and went to grab the card, but she was faster than him and just held it far away from him, while she let her palm hold him back at his chest. "Why? You aren't _jealous_, are you?"

"Damn right, I'm jealous!" Arnold admitted without a second thought, causing Helga to smile broadly. Even if it hadn't been her intention, she still took a little pleasure in knowing that he loved her so much, to the extent of him getting jealous of his own cousin. "I'm not gonna risk losing you to the guy who helped me get you!" he added.

"That's not gonna happen!" Helga answered with a laugh. She couldn't help it; the thought itself was ridiculous. "How do you know?" Arnold asked, with something akin to a childish and worried pout. She didn't answer, but simply grabbed the back of his head and smashed her lips against his. He gasped inside her mouth as she devoured him completely. Despite him having felt a little angry a second ago, rather than making any protests or complaints about what she was doing, he just melted into the kiss. He enjoyed that warm spark she always made appear in the pit of heart, and he was sure that if he wasn't already, he'd eventually get addicted to that feeling.

Helga could feel Arnold wobble a little in her grasp. She could even feel his knees shake a little at that intense kiss, and she had to hold him up a bit when she finally let go of him. "Because I love you… remember?" she asked him with a slightly edgy pant to her voice, her eyes half-lidded like his. He didn't answer right away, but simply breathed slowly to regain oxygen.

Arnold did his best to try to muster the strength to give Helga a proper reply to her somewhat rhetorical question. It was obvious she expected an answer from him though, so he did his best to figure out what to say. "Uh…" he said, almost inaudibly, but when he looked into her eyes, the sight of her looking at him with a mix of her usual scowl and yet a loving smile and a slight blush on her cheeks, he just started to grin goofily. He then said the only thing his brain could come up with in his lovesick and dazed state, something he knew he'd continue to say through the years. "Yes, ma'am!"

**The end**

* * *

**Author's 2nd note: And that's the end, folks! Yeah, most of you have probably already realized that Aaron was trying to help Helga through this, but I think a few may be a little surprised, at least according to some of the reviews :P**

**Anyways! This has been the best first experience in writing Hey Arnold! Fanfiction ever! :D I never ever imagined it becoming so popular, and it almost makes me feel a little shy OwO So, I'm also a little nervous about starting my next fanfiction, since now I kinda have something to live up to xD But, hey! You guys voted for the next plotline, so I guess I've taken the first and most important step :P Not sure when I'll be able to upload the first chapter of "Primal urges and hidden desires" but I'll try to do it as soon as possible, since the people who voted seemed pretty gung-ho at me beginning that story already! xD**

**Anyways! I'm also planning an epilogue for this, so either "Primal urges and hidden desires" will be started first or I'll write the epilogue first, I'm not really sure! It depends on what I feel most inspired to do, I guess xD**

**Anyways! This has been a hard, but really fun journey! I hope you guys enjoyed my first fanficiton, and will be here to read the many more there's to come! :D**


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